Confessions of a Teenage Spy
by polkadot-skies
Summary: It's not just Liz from the Sutton Family that's a Gallagher Girl; now her sister, Ellie is one too.   The second generation of Gallagher Girls ready to fight for the sake of their sisterhood.
1. Chapter 1

Through a hazy consciousness, I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder.

"Ellie!... El, Wake up, I think mom's making breakfast downstairs!" Liz said in my ear.

I jolted awake. My mother, like Liz, couldn't harm a fly. Unless either one of them was cooking. Or attempting to.

I looked confusedly around my surroundings, still sleep drunk. My head whipped form side to side as I looked around our shared attic bedroom with a huge window that overlooked most of our residential street. It felt weird to see the other side of the room tidied up and occupied. Liz was gone for most of the year and her presence at home was rare and strange, but not unwelcome.

She was kneeling on my bed leaning over me, and used both hands and all her effort to shake me, but I barely felt a tremble.

"What? _Why?_" I yelled as I tried to run to the kitchen, but ended up on the floor tangled in my bed sheets.

An amused smile crept along her lips. "Shh... you'll wake them up. Follow me." she whispered.

She crept on the creaky ancient wooden floorboards of our shared room towards the doorway.

Realization dawned on me. "Whaaat? Ohh... you're good, Liz Sutton, you're good." I said, shaking my head in amazement. "But why did you have to wake me up at the butt crack of dawn?"

She shrugged. "Making breakfast for them might be a nice change. I haven't been home in forever. I miss a good Alabama breakfast."

The kitchen was soon a medley of delicious smells from the elaborate breakfast we were making. Well, I was making. Liz was supervising, armed with a keen eye and bright red fire extinguisher.

We finished, but they weren't up yet.

"See, Liz? There's no need to get up before the sun rises. We have so much time." I said, through several yawns.

She murmured in sleepy assent.

We got tired of waiting for them to wake up and come downstairs so we wrapped everything up on the table. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, my mother is shaking me awake calling my name frantically.

"Ellie! Ellie! Guess what came in the mail?" She giggled hysterically.

I could tell Liz had dozed off, too, she was rubbing her eyes and yawning.

I am just going to say that I am not a morning person, and being woken up twice in one day can make my mental stability questionable.

"I don't know, mom." I yawned. "My Hogwarts acceptance letter?"

"El, c'mon open it already! We wanted to wait for you." my father said, just as excited as my mother, but more impatient.

Truth is, I don't know what in the world it could be. My mother's brown eyes were bright and  
>shining. She looked like she was about to break a cheekbone from the wide grin plastered on her face.<p>

Never taking her eyes off my face, she handed me a single white envelope with no return address. With the Gallagher Academy seal printed on it. And it was addressed to Eleanor Sutton. In the corners of my eyes, I saw Liz was leaning against the kitchen counter with huge eyes. I saw her knuckles turn white from gripping the counter too hard.

I gasped, looking at my mother for a second daring it all to be joke. I carefully lifted the flap and started to read the letter aloud.

"_Dear Eleanor Sutton, _  
><em>We are pleased to inform you and your family that you have been chosen to attend Gallagher Academy this coming fall..."<em>

That was all I needed to hear. I was ecstatic, on cloud nine. I started laughing, hugging my father and mother in turn. When I turned to Liz, I saw her gingerly holding the letter that I had discarded on the floor like it was toxic waste. Her eyes were darting left and right, no doubt read the letter three times over already.

Her lips were moving without a sound, trying to make sense of the words. The crease between her eyes that only appeared when she didn't understand a problem (which was next to never) pinched her face. Her expression was pained, and hid a trace of panic.

"I thought you were kidding! How did you even send in the application? " She said dazed, as if it didn't sink in yet.

"Erm..." my mom started. Liz's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What...? Did-" she exclaimed.

"-Lizzie, chill." I quickly cut in, "Mom sent it in for me the day we talked about it." I explained to her as-a-matter-of-fact.

She faced my parents, "Is she seriously going to go? I mean, going go Gallagher is super challenging. The chances of getting an A are reduced by like 5.6%! And not to mention the curriculum..." she rambled on making huge hand gestures, like she was trying to explain something to someone in another language.

God, she was being so selfish.

"Liz, you're being such a hypocrite! You_ go _there. And I can go there if I want to, too. I got in" I said, my voice raising.

She realized that she struck a nerve, and quickly backpedaled.

"Oh, no, Ellie, I didn't mean it like that! I'm really happy for you. But, what about the school you're going to now? And all your friends? Do you _really _want to throw that away for an all-girls boarding school?"

This threw me for a minute. "Touché, Liz." I thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

**Hey, thanks for clicking our fic and reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. It was our first fanfiction chapter, so we're really glad for all the reviews we've got! I tried taking some suggestions from reviews (totally forgot to indent the first chapter, sorry! And thank you to those reviewers!) Hopefully I managed to make this chapter better, but please enjoy! And review for hugs!**

Our clunky beige minivan looked as out of place among the sea of black limousines and flashy expensive sports cars trickling into the school's driveway as Gallagher Academy did in Roseville. The ancient mansion probably looked the same as it did 100 years ago, and I found some comfort in that. It was almost the opposite to the busier suburbs of picture-perfect Roseville and its pottery barn-obsessed soccer moms. It's good that some things never change.

"Some change is good, though," I thought to myself. I was nervous and anxious as I stared at my soon-to-be school. It was so perfect it looked like an illusion.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Gallagher was that I wouldn't be "Elizabeth's little sister" or "the other Sutton girl". Maybe people would finally see me as an individual person, not the labels that society plastered on me. I'd finally get to just be Ellie.

However, there's something that unnerved me about Gallagher, ever since Lizzie came back from her first semester. She wasn't the Lizzie that I grew up with, my best friend. The sister that would once make up stories and confide in me just tiredly pushed me away. Metaphorically, of course.

"_Don't bother me Ellie. I have homework to do."_

"_During summer break?" I asked incredulously. _

"_Yeah... like... extra credit stuff." She said dazedly with a knowing smile on her lips. _

I drifted through memories as I pressed my nose to the window in the backseat, taking in the beautiful campus. It wasn't like Lizzie to be so selfish. But I do admit it, something about this school being so perfect made me uneasy, like someone was watching my every move.

Liz, riding shotgun by my mother twisted around to face me.

I groaned mentally. "No, Ellie, you are _not_ having second thoughts about this!" I reprimanded myself mentally. As if on cue, Liz's voice cut into my train of thought.

"Ellie, if you don't want to go to Gallagher, it's not too late to go back home." Her voice was even and strong, but her eyes pleaded me.

Well Liz, two can play at this game. I widened my eyes, giving off the look of fake innocence, one only Liz could see through.

"No, Liz, why would I want to do that?"

I watched as her eyes widened in frustration and disbelief.

"Don't complain to me later that you regret it then." she muttered.

"Don't be silly Lizzie! She'll be fine!" My mom chirped from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, and besides, didn't you say yourself that I was good enough?" I asked a little hurt.

"You are. I'm sure of that much." She said assuredly, then hesitated, picking her words carefully,

"Ellie, Gallagher is going to be different. Much different from schools in Alabama. In the whole world, even. I hope you know that."

She hopped out of the van lugging her bags to her dorm, a luxury to the upper grades. The seventh graders were to meet with (teacher's name here) in the cafeteria to have orientation before anything else.

I rolled my eyes. Of courseGallagher Academy would be different. An all-girls private boarding school with a beautiful campus and old history. For _exceptional_ young women. Liz? We are _so_ not in Alabama anymore.

Once I said my tearful goodbyes to my mother and the outside world, I dragged my bags up the through the busy halls trying to locate where the cafeteria was. Would it kill them to draw a map? I tried to console myself at the fact that everyone started at seventh grade, and there were probably 20 other girls like me lost.

Spinning around trying to get my bearings, I almost collided with a tall, dark-skinned, older girl who was easily one of the prettiest girls in the room.

She laughed and gripped my shoulders, steadying me. "Woah there! Watch where you're going! You could have killed me!" She teased in a slight British accent.

Then she stopped short and studied my confusion. "Ah… seventh grader. Wait, you look like a Sutton. You're Liz's sister right?" She squinted, as if trying to remember. "Eleanor or something?"

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I'm Liz's sister. Call me Ellie."

The corners of her mouth quirked up. "Yeah, names can be a bitch. I'm Rebecca, by the way, but call me Bex or else." She winked.

"Okay." I shot her a slight grin, "By the way, Bex, do you know where the cafeteria is? I have orientation there with Professor Buckingham and I have no idea where the heck that is." Desperation leaked into my voice. Ellie Sutton was never late. _Never._

She spun me around the shoulders and pointed a graceful finger down the right hallway. "Keep going straight until you reach the staircase, then turn right. I think there's a tour in orientation." Then she grimaced.

"I'm sorry for what you are about to see." She shook her head, apparently trying to get rid of some memory.

I heard a distant call of someone calling Bex's name.

She smiled apologetically. "I guess that's my cue. I'll see you around, Ellie." She gave a two-fingered salute and headed in the direction of the voice.

_I'm sorry for what you are about to see. _What the heck was _that_ supposed to mean?

The cafeteria, or "dining hall" was filled with about 20 girls, all with different facial expressions on. Some were indifferent, bored even. Some were agitated and anxious. There was one girl with long dark hair who looked like she was going to pass out from hyperventilation. I wondered which one I was. There was something similar about all of us though; everyone had a mask of uneasiness as they filed into the large room. I quickly wondered where the teacher was. As soon as the last girl came through the door there was a definite click of a lock, the echo ringing in my ears.

"Ookay, this was weird," I thought. Commence panic mode. Everyone started murmuring and looking around. I did a double take when I saw her. A stern-looking lady with graying hair appeared at the other end of the room as if out of thin air and looked expectantly as if she was the one waiting for us.

"Hello, Ladies." she said smiling, probably laughing inside at all of our stunned expressions. She was older than most teachers, but she must've been pretty agile to sneak from the other exit without us knowing.

"I am Professor Buckingham, one of your teachers this year. Headmistress Morgan, Professor Townsend, and I will give you a little introduction to Gallagher academy before we take our tour. We will meet them shortly in Professor Townsend's classroom. Now, are there any questions?"

Nobody dared to move.

"Good, now if you'll all follow me." She said, walking briskly out of the room. Snapping out of our daze, we had to sprint after her as she took us through the winding hallways of the mansion. Some of the more bold girls tried to touch the sword in the grand hall, but a trip to the hospital wing later; we soon realized that it wasn't such a good idea.

When we entered the room, we saw a middle aged man and a stunning woman waiting for us. The woman stepped onto the podium next to the screen and gave us a kind but calculating gaze.

"Hello incoming seventh graders. I am Headmistress Morgan, and this is Professor Townsend," she said, gesturing to the man. Only a trained eye could've seen the worry eyes around her eyes and the slight sag in her shoulders.

"Each and every one of you special girls have been chosen to attend Gallagher Academy for numerous reasons. We believe that you are capable for excelling in our line of work."

She paused, "Gallagher Academy is a school for spies-in-training, which is what you'll all become, if you choose."

Cue whispering and slight disbelieving laughter.

"It's not all as glamorous as it seems, ladies. Even the best get hurt or killed. They lose their way."

A projector screen rolled down and the lights turned flicked off. A series of pictures of random-looking people came on.

First a strong looking man with a mustache.

"Operative White. He spent more than 20 years putting more than 30 terrorists behind bars. Murdered in his own house_._" Her crisp, clear words punctured the air.

A girl with bright red hair and a sly grin.

"Operative Candace, a friend of mine from M16, went undercover to expose a longtime drug ring. Dead before she even reached the age of thirty." Professor Townsend said.

_Operative Michaels..._

_Operative Stevens..._

Dead.

Dead.

_All dead._

They alternated through a dozen or more agents, all compromised. I felt the blood drain out of my face, and I saw that every face in the room was ashen. I gave a quiet, strangled gasp. It was like in those cheesy horror movies when the naive girl wanders into the dark mansion during a lightning storm, and you're just screaming at her to get out, but she can't hear you. You couldn't move or take your eyes off the screen. You were, in a way, entranced.

I heard the final click and a picture of a man with brown hair and twinkling eyes was projected.

"Operative Morgan. Went MIA during a mission to take down a known terrorist group. He had a daughter and a wife," Mrs. Morgan's voice broke. "They wait for him every day."

Professor Townsend spoke up, covering for Mrs. Morgan. "It was decided by the trustees that you seventh graders will start having Covert Operations as a part of your curriculum instead of Sophomore year due to a recent events."

A shaky video started on the projector, probably from a surveillance camera.

A plain looking girl and a tall boy were standing in a back alley when they turned to see a van driving towards them.

"_No! Save Macey!"_ The girl screamed.

Three other girls and a few adults came out of the building, just as the masked men poured out of the car.

All of them fought, despite the men being almost twice their size. Suddenly, plain girl got pinned down and was knocked out.

"_No! Save Cammie!" _A woman screeched. It took me awhile to realize with horror that the woman was Mrs. Morgan.

The tall boy and an older man recovered Cammie.

_Oh, good. _I thought, _See? The good guys win sometimes._

Then I saw the man with the gun. My blood froze. In slow motion, I saw a woman that looked a little like Mrs. Morgan jump in front of the girl who was going to get shot."

"_NO!"_

I saw the woman crumple to the ground in a dark pool of blood.

The video ended with an echoing click.

"I want to make sure that before you make your decision about staying, you know what you're agreeing to. Make sure you don't regret your decision." Mrs. Morgan said deliberately. "Now, if you'll all return to the dining hall for your dorm assignments. Those who decide not to stay will follow me to my office."

As everyone started numbly filing out of the classroom, I snapped out of my haze.

It was all too much. So many dead trying to rid the world of a few evil people, and most of the time, the bad guys won. It just. Wasn't. Fair. If I stayed, would my story be told to incoming middle schoolers twenty years from now?

_To stay or not to stay?_

Heck, I did the only sane thing I could do then and bolted out of the classroom, losing myself in the maze of corridors.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **

**Hey everyone! Third chapter for you guys! The italicized text here is some lines taken directly from Ally Carter, about what everyone was doing during the summer of Out of Sight, Out of Time. Any questions, suggestions, anything, review and let us know! Thanks to those who reviewed :) really appreciate it!**

I stumbled past all the rushing students, my breath catching in my throat.

My sister's knowing eyes mournfully looking into mine, as understanding passed between us. The reason why she had protested my entrance to her soon to be alma mater.

_"No," Liz said, harder than she'd intended. "Look, it's not that great. You aren't missing anything."_

_"I can go there if I want to," I said. "I can—"_

_"You don't want to go there, Ellie!"_

_"You don't know that," I said. "You just don't want me there because then you wouldn't be the special one."_

_"That's not it. I just don't think you'd like it, that's all."_

The moment I stepped from our minivan to the front steps of the school, it was too late. No, the moment that I had gleefully celebrated my entrance into the school, it was too late. As Liz's mind mirrored the exact opposite of that I thought she would think.

She would do anything to keep me out of here. Out of the danger she and her friends are already in.

"I've been so stupid," I whisper to myself, wrapping my arms around my legs, folding into myself.

I feel footsteps behind me, sending tiny vibrations into the cemented ground. I freeze up, hoping to camouflage into my background.

"How do you like your glamorous, wonderful boarding school that you so desperately wanted to get into, Ellie?"

The words are crisp and clear, with a hint of sarcasm. And I recognize the voice, would, from anywhere. That moment right there, I just start bawling my tears out. My cries are loud, and primal, that I can't stop them.

She doesn't do anything, just stands there and watches me with something that looks like heartbreak in her eyes. Until my tears begin to run dry and I am reduced to the humiliating hiccups, she doesn't do anything. No physical contact between us, no pats or hugs.

Then, as I turn around and face her with red eyes and sniffles, she smiles at me, huge and wide, like she used to in the old days. She reaches her arms around me, firmly holding me against her chest. I can smell the faint whiff of her sweet, floral perfume as I hug her back, the tears threatening to overfill again. She takes in a deep breath, and I can tell that she's about to speak. Her voice cracks a little, from something that I can't tell of, but her intention and her words reach my ears.

"Welcome to the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, Ellie."

Liz disappears into thin air as soon as I let go of her and take a good look at my surroundings. I wander around the halls until I realize how lost I really am.

There's no one around the area of the school that I'm in, which means no source of help unless I find it myself. I'm kind of wishing that I stuck around for the tour now.

Soon enough, I take a seat on the ground, knowing that it's useless to walk around. There's something about this hallway that seems different from the ones that I walked in as I came through the doors for the first time. I wonder for the first time, how many others managed to get lost here, alone with no source of help.

"Hello."

I jerk my head up, staring right into the eyes of a girl, dressed in not the uniform that I was wearing, but casual clothes. She was Asian, and looked exotic with almond shaped eyes and soft facial features. The edges of her mouth was slightly curved into a shy smile, as if she couldn't decide whether to smile at me or not. I remembered my red eyes and blotchy face, and mentally agreed with her actions.

She continued on, after garnering no response to her greeting.

"Are you lost?" she asked, her head tipping to the side ever so slightly, making the balance of her body perfect in an imperfect way.

I cleared my throat, and replied. "Yes, I am," I stood up from my crouched down sitting position and dusted my skirt off. "Are you a student here?" Her clothes made me doubt it, but I asked cautiously just in case. If she was a student here, no, if she was already here in the innermost part of the school from the start, she would most likely know and understand how this school works behind its cover of disguise.

She smiled at me, more open this time, as she started walking off into the direction I came from. I scrambled after her to catch up to her skipping legs. She stopped suddenly, causing me to crash into her.

"Here," she said, turning to me. I looked up, my hand inspecting the burst of pain on my head from the full on smash into the girl. I see two tall pillars that decorate an entrance to another hallway that I swear I have no memory of seeing when I was walking around by myself. I dash into the hallway, inspecting the window that looked out onto the front gate of the school. It wasn't as crowded as before, and only a couple of cars were left, parents inside tearfully crying as their daughters passed the entrance into the school.

In my life, I have never been late to any class whether it was music (buildings and buildings away from my other classes) or physical education (where showering and changing took 25 minutes in the allowed 15 minutes of time).

I rushed in just as the head teacher clapped her hands together in a brisk manner and turned to the door (i.e. me). I could tell she wasn't exactly pleased, the way she pursed her lips and eyed me from head to toe.

"Ellie Sutton," she reads my name off a list, "you're late."

To be fair, it wasn't a class, not exactly, and it was the first day, after all. Not that this teacher apparently cared. I mean, 20 something other girls managed to find their way just fine on the first day. Except you know, they didn't really have a mental breakdown with their older sister and then end up meeting a freaky girl that wasn't even a student.

She shooed me off to one of the rooms on the very end of the dormitory. Which meant that I had to drag my various luggage in two trips to get there. I could feel my face burning red, as girls from the other rooms glanced at me and whispered.

When I came to the door of my room, I peeked my head in cautiously, checking out my lifestyle for the next year or so.

There was a pretty girl sitting on one of the beds, immersed in something she was holding (a magazine, something of fashion variety deducted from the model on the front cover). When she raised her head, noticing my awkward entrance into the room, she bit her lower lip (a habit, as I later figure out) and stood up, leaving the magazine on her bed.

"Hello," she spoke, an undetectable accent to her greeting (not British, as Bex has but something more exotic).

"Hi," I breathlessly say, trying to smile at her without being too weird. We stayed in that pose for a moment each person on the other side of the room, trying to figure what the next move was. Once she noticed this, she hurriedly walked over to me and grabbed the rest of the bags that was on the floor and brought it to what was apparently my bed.

"Oh, thank you," I follow her with the remaining of my bags, smiling an actual smile this time, grateful for the help. I drop them onto the floor and collapse on my bed, tired from just the first hour of being here.

She sat down next to me, gingerly, as if I would object (I don't, by the way. It's nice having a person sit next to you, albeit you being a bit out of breath).

"Bad start?" she asks, curiously looking at me.

"Oh, my god," I breathe, readying for one of my rants. Then I stop, and pause. Take a deep breath, and let the rant fly away before it manages to scare someone. Finally, I reply, "It could go better."

She leans back on her hands, and smiles at the ceiling. "I hear you."

Maybe it was something in this tiny conversation between us, but the moments of sudden awkwardness between new people simply vanished. We talked (finally introducing ourselves, by the way,) about everything in our lives.

Erika (last name Hart) is biracial. Her father is Irish and Scottish, her mother Japanese. That explains her features (brown, reddish hair with almond shaped eyes, tall and lithe, somehow similar to the girl that I met earlier).

She's also a fashion maniac.

It explains her earlier magazine in hand, and the amazing clothes she has packed. Since we have uniforms, she ends up showing her fashion through other sources (hair, makeup, and scarves.) It's one of the things she's seriously serious about (arguing for half an hour on creating a makeover on me proves that) and I like that.

I like making friends with people who are different from me. Erika is the main example of that. It's like taking a taste of a different world. You get to be a different person when you're with them, and not be limited by the rules and laws of your own world.

I start to unpack my bags, neatly sorting everything to its own pile. I glance at Erika's side of the room, who's already done unpacking. She has this organized chaos type of style, where it looks messy but she can find anything in the various piles on the floor. On the contrary, my room is absolutely neat; there's absolutely nothing on the ground.

Then I glance at the third side of the room. Technically, each room is shared by three or four people, and the teacher didn't say anything about ours. I curiously begin to wonder how our third roommate would be like.

There's a polite, ladylike knocking on the door that I can never accomplish. It has that rhythmic, well timed, three setted knock. After a second, the door opens with the teacher from before and a new girl next to her, with her bags and luggage.

"Girls," she begins, "here is your third roommate. Get along well."

She doesn't talk. All of her emotions are built upon small gestures, head turns, and nods. Sometimes she does open her mouth, but they're mostly based on one syllable replies.

At first I thought she was shy; only answering questions and never starting them. But her silence didn't have a mean streak to it, it was more of a take what you need type of way.

She laid on her bed, her arms behind her head simply staring at the ceiling. She never really moved a muscle, just laying there frozen in place. Once in awhile, she would blink and time would return to her body, only to freeze it back into place before the next blink would come.

Camellia Morgenstern recently moved from Germany. Her movements are methodical, there's no stumbling trips or awkward skipping. It seems as if everything is precalculated and worked out days before it actually happens.

She's curvy, with curls of honey colored hair each neatly owning a small place on her head. And her oval shaped face holds round light brown eyes that gleam of unsaid intelligence, full lashes decorating her eyes, freckles scattered across her face, a long, tall nose with thin lips that express most of the emotions she lets out.

Out of the three of us roommates, she is the one who manages to make her bed and keep her room clean 24/7 (Erika, is, well, Erika, and I tend to let loose after a day or two). She is the one who keeps the shared bathroom absolutely beautiful. And finally, she is the one who we can always rely on for understated, yet perfectly timed, raises of her left eyebrow, a tiny roll of her eyes, and that tiny curl of her lips that mean she has something good in mind.


	4. Chapter 4

As I settled in over the next month, I slowly realized that "the sisterhood" wasn't an exaggerated term. I literally loved Erika and Camellia (who we call Cam sometimes) like sisters, and I knew the feeling was mutual. It was the way I cheerfully dragged Erika out of bed every morning so she wouldn't miss breakfast, or the way Camellia listened to every word my angry rants, nodding with sympathy. It wasn't something that could happen in a day, or a week. You couldn't explain it by tacky BFF necklaces that you bought from the mall or matching outfits. It was as easy and comfortable as breathing.

Every time I walk past Liz in the hallway, even when more than half of her is obscured by the other students, a rush of worry rampages in my mind. How many scenes that her eyes could have been spared of if she went to a normal school were born to her mind? How many times would she fear for her life, and for the lives of others? And another thought dreaded through my mind; will I live with those scenes playing in my mind?

Usually, she manages one tiny smile for me in the halls before the bodies of the many students cover her. Bex pulls off the cool nod to me, which I return, just as coolly. But today was different. She looked worried, pale and under slept, it's not just them, though. It seems like everyone is these days, even the Headmistress.

Despite rigorous workouts and piles of homework, I quickly got accustomed to the ways to Gallagher. Even though I knew the main secret that these walls held, I didn't know them all.

One day, I was alone in the hallway (having an excuse to be late to class because of an emergency turnout of only one bag of Ceylon tea left helps) and for once, I was able to examine the surroundings that I rush past every morning.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see two black limos pull up at the gated entrance, with tinted windows (and most probably bullet proof, if not missile proof, glass that covers every centimeter of danger for the riders). I gaze, transfixed at the unusual sight as two women who look just like the Gallagher example of graduates living in society, climb out and walk briskly to the door. They're greeted by the headmistress, and quickly garnered inside.

I weigh my options briefly. But before I can choose one, I hear the scuttle of rushing feet, with sharp, business-like talking that makes my feet move along as well.

In the few seconds that I have, my eyes scan across a hiding place that I quickly slide into, smoothly. It's not the best possible, but all that I have at the moment.

I hold my breath silently, hidden behind a corral of bookcases as the group of sharp glances and tones walked by.

I nearly heard myself smile; secrets were what I loved best, and this looked especially good. I stiffened into my hiding spot as one of the teachers turn in my direction, pausing, before continuing off.

As their footsteps echoed off into the distance, I waited for another good five minutes before painfully pulling myself out of there and massaging my sore arms. While I did this, the tiny bits of words and sentences that became information sorted themselves in my mind.

"Blackthorne," I murmur, that one word sticking in my head. Was it a pronoun, or something else? A codename? And an exchange? What was it an exchange of? Presents? Shaking my head in confusion, I dashed back to class and awaited my lecture of being tardy.

I was haunted with that single word for the rest of the day. There was something inside of me that itched to know what it was. I was tempted but I knew that sometimes, especially in our line of work, ignorance is bliss. The sensible side of me said to stay out of it. But since when was I sensible?

Every time I saw Liz and Bex and a girl who I later knew was Macy McHenry, resident goddess sit huddled and whispering, secluded away from all the other girls during meals, the troublemaker and inner Nancy Drew in me wanted to grab the nearest plaid trench coat and magnifying glass.

I snorted with laughter, thinking of the irony.

Cam gave me a questioning look, but I just shrugged.

Throughout my entire childhood, I always thought spies and detectives wore trench coats and spectacles, but the truth is, they wear skirts and lip-gloss and can kill you in more ways than you probably could imagine.

And like it or not, I was one of them. Or becoming one, at least

Which is why I knew that I had to know what it was, even if it killed me. Funny how that saying becomes so literal.

Later that evening in our dorm, I was lying down on my bed, memorizing the pattern of the ceiling while debating on what to do. Erika was flipping through a new magazine on her bed, totally absorbed. Cam was quietly lying on her bed, probably listening to a song in her head.

Coughing, I finally broke the spell of silence. Camellia gave me a questioning stare and Erika raised an eyebrow. They both knew that it was a fake cough.

"I'm worried about Lizzie..." I trailed off lamely. There was no way to put this. Since I could remember, Lizzie was always the big sister. It pained me to see the tears in her eyes and her picking at her food. I had so many worries I was stressing about that my head felt like it was spinning.

Erika's eyes softened.

She said quietly, "I know, El. We all are, but Lizzie is a big girl. She can take care of herself." She thought for a minute, "It's probably all that stress of high school."

But I wasn't convinced. "She wasn't like this last year though, and all the other high schoolers seem okay." I whined.

She sighed. "I don't know, Ellie. What do you want me to say?"

The three of us lapsed back into silence.

With the memory of what happened today, I bolted up from bed.

I gasped, "I just remembered something! 'sofficeandsoIfollowedandyou'llneverguesswhathappened-"

Erika's eyes widened. She pounced onto my bed and shook my shoulders. "Whoa! Again. Slowly." She demanded, though I knew she heard at least most of it. Even Cam pulled herself up into a sitting position. I took a deep breath.

"Today I saw people coming to see Mrs. Morgan and I got curious so I followed and eavesdropped through a hiding place, and they were talking about something called Blackthorne. What the heck is that? And do you think that's what's got Lizzie so upset?" I asked excitedly.

My rant was met with silence.

Erika's eyes were distant, but her lips were twisted into a smile. Cam was staring into space, no doubt her mind whirring a thousand miles per minute, a face I'd often see on Liz. "Blackthorne..." She mused to herself.

Erika snapped back, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Well, my dear friend, there's only one way to find out."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

**Hi guys! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who read and reviewed our story so far! It truly means a lot to us. :)**

**love to:**

**Luvslove**

**ISpyANinjaAndItsMe**

**kgorange**

**Pianist707**

**InsanelySane44**

**ZebraBabii72**

**AussieGallagherGirl**

**bookbabe68**

**Eye Stealing Ninja**

**A few questions came up so I just wanted to clarify a few things. This story takes place at Gallagher while Cammie is missing and before she comes back in Out of Sight, Out of Time. That's kind of why Bex, Liz, Macey, and Mrs. Morgan are acting strange. The only thing is Zach isn't a full time student... yet ;) Oh, and Camellia isn't Cammie Morgan... i think...**

**My friend and I (we both collaborated and wrote this story) are wondering if anyone would help us like review/ go through our chapters before they're posted. It'll help us a lot, and we'd really appreciate it! :)**

**And now, I give you chapter 5! }:)**

I was woken awake by an incoming flying teddy bear from the left side of my bed (Erika's side of the room) and managed to dodge it half asleep (sharing a room with Liz made you do that). Rubbing my eyes open, I weakly flung a pillow from my bed into Erika's face, who mumbled about pudding.

I giggled, then glanced towards Cam's side of the room, to see that she was already awake and monosyllable as usual. She nodded at me, then pointed to Erika, to which I grinned. She smiled back and headed off to the bathroom, ready to avoid the war zone that was about to be born.

As soon as I heard the bathroom door close, I picked up a pillow and braced my stomach with it.

With a shriek, I jumped onto Erika, who promptly threw out a kick in my direction, where it hit the braced pillow. I grinned.

"Morning sunshine!" I crowed, hugging her awake.

"My god," she groaned weakly, glaring at the direction of where my voice seemed to come from. "Give me my bear back will you?"

"Yes ma'am!" I smirked and fake saluted, then spun on my heel to retrieve the bear. As soon as my back was turned, Erika promptly covered her head with a pillow. I sighed impatiently, thinking of which torture tactic I would use next to wake her up. Suddenly grinning, I crawled up to her sleeping form and whispered, "_Blackthorne._"

She bolted up from bed and started sprinting to the bathroom.

"I'm up, I'm up! And you better be too, young lady! Operation covertly-interrogate-Liz-and-find-out-what-the-heck-Blackthorne- is is now in motion!" She yelled, and the end of her sentence, her words half-garbled with the toothbrush in her mouth. "For Narnia!" Cam probably was giving her a look so she added sheepishly, "Sorry, I got a little too worked up."

I laughed. "Okay," I smiled. "By the way, what _is_ the plan?"

"Oh, you'll see." She replied, as cryptic as ever. I rolled my eyes. Oh Liz, if only you knew.

In the Academy, rarely would different grades mix and mingle together. It's not like we had matching schedules, either. We all killed our brains trying to find a way to talk to the seniors (more specifically, Liz and her friends).

So one Saturday, when I was visiting the library (a perfect place for dozing off comfortably), I encountered Liz.

In actuality, she poked my sides, a surprise attack that made me shriek (and earned me a death glare from the librarian). I shot death glares at Liz, while she smiled crookedly back at me.

She leaned against the window, glancing down at the pile of books I had with me on the window seat, then glanced outside, her eyes skimming over the details that she'd known for the last five years.

"Do you miss Alabama?"

Her question hit me hard; in the midst of our plans for Blackthorne, I'd managed to forget my homesickness. But now it came back to me.

She continued on, not trying to notice my watering eyes. "I do. A lot. Even in my senior year, I still do. I keep on remembering those Sunday mornings where I'd go and watch you make pancakes and then we'd all eat them together."

"Yeah," I croak out, realizing how close I am to crying. Clearing my throat, I say again, "Yeah," sounding more energetic this time.

Liz reaches down to grab one of the books and opens it to read the inside. I realize, a moment too late, why exactly I took that book out.

"Blackthorne," she reads out loud. There's something different about her voice I can't help but swallow. "And why is this in your pile of books, Ellie?"

I grasp my fingers together, before stuttering, "Well, um, I-"

"Liz!" We both hear the somewhat hushed voice coming from the entrance of the library, following with a hushing from the librarian.

It's Bex, and Macey. My eyes catch two more smaller figures behind them. Erika and Cam.

"Erika, Cam," I say in relief. I needed reinforcements for this. I stand up and walk to them, smiling.

"Wait a minute, Ellie," I hear my sister say as expected, "it's not over yet. I want to know why you're looking at this."

"At what?" Macey asks curiously. To her, Liz replies with tossing the book to her. She recognizes the name just as quickly, and her gaze sharpens.

"Blackthorne," she comments, and Bex looks surprised for a moment.

Erika takes this moment as a way to find out everything about the exchange, and I don't doubt her, not really. But the way that they're acting, it's different. They act like, well, like spies. Like Operatives in the field.

"We, well, Ellie heard about an exchange with Blackthorne," Erika excitedly comments. "You know what Blackthorne is. Don't you?"

They all glance at each other, before Bex shrugs with a why not tell them look. Liz clenches her fists. Macey just looks bored.

"It's an all boys spy school, just like ours," Macey says. Liz glares at her. "Liz," she says in exasperation, "if we don't tell them, they'll go deeper and deeper, what if they find out about, about things that they shouldn't know at all?" She ends with a somewhat nervous, scared tone to her words, and that makes Liz back off. They seem to deflated at that thought.

Erika looks surprised. She had speculated endlessly about the possibilities.

I could tell that Erika didn't think of that one.

The three girls looked lifeless but when Erika said, "Hey Cam-", all of their heads snapped up attentively.

"Did you just say _Cam_?" Macey demanded. She exchanged a glance with Bex and Liz.

I quickly realized that they didn't know Camellia's name. Sure, they knew her as my friend, but she was never introduced, and she easily blended into the background.

"Yeah, well, her name is Camellia, but we call her Cam." I said curious, "Why?"

"It's nothing." said Liz, earning her a hard glance from Bex. "Nothing that you should be concerned about, anyway." She amended.

I couldn't help but notice that Liz, Bex, and Macey's faces looked a little more tired, and little more worn, and held a sadness that I couldn't comprehend. In short, they looked disappointed.

The questions that racked our minds through the next couple of weeks were varied: from Japanese grammar, to dining etiquette (courtesy of Madame Dabney, whose course guarantees perfect posture by the end), strategic maneuvering, and the exchange with Blackthorne. The only problem that plagued not Erika and Cam's minds, but only mine, was the worry etched into the fine lines of Liz. The jumpiness that controlled Liz, it scared me. As if any more jumping and she'll shatter into tiny little Elizabeth Sutton pieces, all broken on the ground.

I was woken awake by unidentifiable flying objects (upon closer observation, it was a strawberry plushie with stringy legs and arms). Lodging them into Cam's trusty sleeping arms, I stepped outside after blanketing myself with my hooded cat blanket.

I wandered through the halls, my hand lingering slowly on the sights that I pass every day without thought, this time carefully inspecting every single crevice. My fingers found tiny knobs, decorative crests hidden from view, and inscriptions of letters I couldn't decipher. All the walls I see during the day was so different from the walls during the morning. The times I'd rush through the halls with books and materials in my arms, running to reach my next class.

Now, as my feet whispered against the floor, I realize how long I've been walking around, my blanket sliding after me like a ghost. The sun was peering at me with little glimpses, and I hurried back to the dorm before everyone else woke up.

I carefully slipped into my bed and drifting off to sleep, my cat blanket still securely covering my head with a hug.

If it wasn't for Cam and her amazing ability to save us from the worst situations possible (waking up late, accidentally destroying the tower of stuffed animals, etc.), we probably would've earned a death certificate from one of the teachers, be as it may be that we had to have an assembly that morning.

We managed to rush into our designated spots with loose collars, uneven skirt hems, and a messy hair fix with the straightener.

At once, I could tell something was different. It was an assembly of the whole Academy, from seventh grade all the way to the seniors. I could even see a bit of Liz's blonde hair from here, along with the faces of the tall Macey and Bex. That reassured me a little bit.

Around me, there were whispers and chattering floating around everywhere. No one knew about this quick, last minute assembly.

On the stage, I could see the faculty getting ready for a speech. The headmistress stepped up, clearing her throat before facing the microphone with a smile.

"Good morning, ladies," she spoke, her posture straight and tall. There were bags under her eyes, with swipes of concealer attempts to hide them. "We have a special surprise for the Gallagher Academy. We're happy to announce the return of some Blackthorne students."

Stepping back a bit, she ushered in a line of boys. There were gasps from the girls, most of them happy gasps. The boys walked with a military precision, their steps perfectly timed. I noted that some of them were rather cute, and I could tell Erika and Cam thought so as well.

"Now, now, ladies," she spoke again, "Calm down. I'm going to pass the mike over to Mr. Townsend, who'll explain the surprise." She stepped down after exchanging a nod with Mr. Townsend, who climbed up and with his strong British accent, began shooting off lines and lines of newly changed rules. I swear some girls nearly fainted with the British accent.

"The boys will be staying in the formerly closed off rooms in the East wing. No girls are allowed there without permission, understand?"

We all nod, though it's a rhetorical question. Soon after, the assembly is dismissed and we are told to go on our regular schedules like this happened everyday.

Looking around the cafeteria, I could see some other seventh grade girls batting their eyelashes and laughing excessively, trying to get a guy's attention, but mostly they failed miserably. I stifled a snicker behind my hand. _Why try?_ I wanted to tell them. _It doesn't make a difference. _All of the boys were looking at the upperclassmen, or in other words, Macey McHenry and Bex Baxter. Enough said.

Liz wasn't devastatingly gorgeous like they were, but she was definitely pretty. I saw a lanky boy with wire- rimmed glasses smile at her, and they seemed to share an inside joke. **(This is Jonas, btw ) **Note to self: interrogate her about this later.

I myself haven't actually talked or interacted with a Blackthorne student yet, and I was curious to see how good of spies they really are. It wasn't until CoveOps when I really found out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:**

**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed for the last chapter~ It means a ton to us that you stuck with us this far. :)**

Striding into the classroom, flanked by Erika and Cam, I was going to sit in my usual seat by the windows when we saw a small group of boys already there.

A tall boy with dark hair- (almost black) and hazel eyes was sitting in my usual seat, and as if he knew that, he rolled his eyes and smirked at me. Yes, you heard that right, actual _smirkage_.

Apparently, Erika saw too; I could feel her tense up next to me. Cam narrowed her eyes at the boy, her way of flipping them off.

"Did you just see-" I exclaimed, cut off my Erika.

"Yeah! What a-"

"I know right! I can't believe-"

"Ohhh wait until I-" She smiled deviously.

(We ping-ponged like this often, we could sometimes finish each other's sentences.)

"No, Erika, it's fine!" I sighed, "Let's just sit over there" I pointed to the other side of the classroom, the farthest seats from the smirking boy and his friends. I didn't want to start a fight before class started. Anyway, boy spies or not, I doubt they could survive Erika's "Hart Attack" (dubbed by our classmates in P&E) which involved a trip to the nurse's office and a possibly minor concussion.

"No way, Jose! I'm not going to let you get bossed around by that son of a beach ball! I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!" She said as she marched to where the boys sat.

"Erika!" I whined, trying to drag her arm back, but I soon gave up. Cam followed hesitantly.

When Erika reached his desk, he was laughing and joking with his other two friends his hands clasped behind his head.

I saw his jaw dropped slightly when he saw Erika. I almost laughed. Erika was almost the Macey McHenry of our grade; she could definitely use her looks to her advantage, especially in honeypot situations.

It was smirking boy's friend who spoke up first. He had sandy blonde hair and teeth white enough to be in a toothpaste commercial.

"What can we do for you, sweetheart?" He winked.

"Actually, there _is _something you can do for me. You see, my friends and I here usually sit in these seats every day, and you just coming here today, well, kind of put you at a disadvantage. Finders keepers, right?" Erika said in a sugary sweet voice.

The third boy sat quiet, just absorbing the scene before him. He shrugged in a "why not?" way and said, "C'mon, guys. Don't start anything on the first day." The other two looked at his incredulously.

"Seriously, Aiden?" Colgate guy said.

"You're going to let a bunch of _girls _boss you around?" said Mr. My-head-is-the-size-of-Europe. He even had the nerve to laugh.

My first thought was _No, we're _Gallagher _Girls. _And my second thought was, _Oh my god, that guy is going to die. _Probably in a slow, painful way judging by the intensity of Erika's and Cam's glares.

"Morgenstern, Hart, Sutton- please find a seat." Professor Townsend said with a raised eyebrow. We probably made looked like quite a scene.

We made our way across the room to the seats I pointed out earlier, avoiding the curious looks given to us by our classmates.

Cam and I sat down quietly, but Erika mumbles a string of mostly unintelligible words. She scoffed. The only thing I picked out was _"just girls?"._

Fortunately, Professor Townsend decided to start class then.

"Ladies, gentlemen, today we will be doing a little exercise to practice our counter- surveillance." He instructed.

I yawned discreetly. Not having enough sleep was seriously taking its toll.

"Believe it or not, you ladies and gentlemen will have to work with each other in the future. You have to learn to trust your partners, no matter what gender they should be. Girls, pick a partner of the opposite gender. You and your partners will be tailing another team in town. The compromised teams will come back to the van. We'll see who the last team standing is."

I smiled, suddenly excited since I had a naturally competitive nature. Sue me. Peeking out of the corner of my eyes to the right, I saw Erika grin wickedly and mouthed, "payback." To the left, Cam winked.

Just as we were getting out of our seats to find partners, Professor Townsend quickly stopped us.

"Oh no, Miss Sutton, I believe you and your friends already have partners. Aidan, Tyler, Jacob- can you come here for a minute?"

I realized with dread that the boys he pointed out were the very ones that Erika almost killed today. So much for payback- they were our partners!

"Erika will be paired up with Aidan, Camellia will be paired up with Tyler, a Eleanor will be paired up with Jacob. The disguise room is to the left corridor; meet at the van in ten minutes. Good luck." He handed each a comms unit which we used to communicate with each other.

The boys took off ahead of us. I found out that Cam was stuck with Tyler, Colgate guy, and I was stuck with Jacob, the one who practically laughed at my face. Oh joy.

I groaned outwardly, and complained to Erika and Cam, "I can't believe I got stuck with _him_! You're so lucky Erika! At least you have a decently compatible partner! Me and Cam are stuck with a pair of egotistical beach balls!" (Since that outburst from Erika earlier, that insult kind of stuck with me.)

Erika laughed, obviously aware that she got lucky. "Yeah, good luck. If there are in need of any bodies to be disposed, I know a guy."

We stocked up with disguises that we would later slip on in town. Extra, just in case.

"Nah, it's okay. I think i'll just ignore him for most of the time." I said. I have been known to have a high tolerance rate. Being usually good natured, I tried to find the good in people. And Jacob was making that very, very hard.

Since we had to sit by our partners in the van, I spent the whole 15 minute ride staring out of the window trying not to snap while Jacob was making irritating noises to provoke me. First it was clicking his tongue. Then it was breathing excessively loudly. Then it was tapping his fingernails on the glass. I finally drew the line at him blasting his ipod in his ears. I swear, practically the whole van could hear his rap songs.

I twisted to face him. "I swear, do you have, like, ADD or something? You cannot sit still! And do you mind turning your music down? Practically the whole van can hear you!" I whisper-shouted.

He face was amused, which was probably the most annoying thing. "What?" He said, pulling out his earbuds. Great, he hasn't heard a word I said.

"You know what? Nevermind." I said exasperated. We pulled into a park. "But just letting you know, Jacob, I play to win."

"Well, then, I guess that makes the two of us. And it's Jake, by the way Ellie."

I stiffened. I had never told him my nickname, and he's never heard it in person.

"How'd you know that?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "You're the spy, tell me."

I was quiet as all of the students dispersed. We had twenty minutes before our assignments were given. Jake grabbed my arm and guided me through the sparse crowd on the sidewalk. I was guided into a little coffee shop and to the back of the restaurant by the bathrooms.

"Go put on your disguise in there." He said, lightly pushing through the door.

I checked to see if he pushed me in the right one. Hey, you never know.

Checking legs under every stall, I made sure that no one was in the bathroom while I slipped light blue contacts over my dark blue ones and spray-dyed my hair light blonde, like Liz's. Besides that, I also changed clothes to those that fit a local teen girl, which thankfully didn't involve a plaid skirt. I also applied eyeliner which made my overall appearance look older, almost 15, instead of 13.

Giving one last look in the mirror, I strode out of the bathroom slightly slouched to change my gait.

I looked around for Jake, but I only saw a few middle-aged men.

_Oh my god,_ I thought, _he ditched me._

Quickening my pace to get out of the restaurant, I rounded the corner and ran into a teenage boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

"Whoopsie daisy!" I cried. Yeah, it was a Sutton thing.

"I'm so sorry!" we both said at the same time.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm actually waiting for someone." He said, smiling warmly. Wait what? I squinted. I saw his blue eyes where his green should be and his hair was slightly powdery, lightening up his dark hair. But nothing a spy couldn't recognize up close.

He was a spy? I snorted. I decided to have a little fun.

"Hey, what's your name" I asked, slightly batting my eyes like I saw the other girls do earlier.

He hesitated for a second. "Tracy." I stifled a snicker.

"So, come here often Tracy?"

"...sure."

"Do you go to Gallagher Academy?" I fired.

"Of course not. It's an all-girls school."

"Are you-"

"Hey I got to go." He said aruptly, slightly nervous. I could tell he was scared.

"I thought you were waiting for someone."

"Um... yeah... I.."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I started cracking up, clutching my sides until I gasped for air.

He looked so concerned and weirded-out that I started another round of laughing. Holding my finger up for him to wait, I decided to enlighten him.

"Tracy? Really, Jake?"

"Wha-" His eyes widened. "_Ellie?_" He asked incredulously.

"Mmhm." I said, slightly smug.

"C'mon," He grumbled, gripping my wrist and tugging me out of the place. Once my feet hit the pavement, a voice spoke in my ear and I jumped. Scolding myself, I realized that it was only my comms unit.

"Skylark and Lily you're tailing Siren and Phantom. Shadow and Raven, you're tailing Muse and Ember...Wizard and Lynx, you're tailing Skylark and Lily" Professor Townsend rattled on. Luckily, the unit was only one way- none of the students could hear each other, only the teacher.

I stiffened when I heard my codename, Lily. I cast a sidelong glance at Jake. He must be Skylark, since I only knew the codenames of Gallagher students.

We had Siren and Phantom... Siren was Erika. Erika and Aiden. Oh my god.

I figured out that Christina Summers and some other Blackthorne student was tailing us. That part didn't really make me nervous, though. Christina was known for being really talkative. My hope was whoever tailing them would find them first.

Since we only had the perimeter of the town square and main street, we tried to stay inconspicuous, always staying with a large group of people.

"You know we're tailing Erika and Aiden right?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.

"Duh."

I rolled my eyes.

"So what's the game plan?" I asked.

"Win?"

As immune to sarcastic remarks as I was, I couldn't help but slip a little laugh at that.

"No kidding." I retorted.

I assumed to other people we looked like just as ordinary brother and sister walking down the street. Or, _gulp, _a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Okay, immediately shaking that thought out of my head.

"Mace and Bishop, you have been compromised. Please return to the van."

I involuntarily stiffened, suddenly getting nervous. Jake must've caught it because he gave me a sidelong glance and asked, "Nervous, Gallagher girl?"

"_Gallagher girl?"_

"Yeah... 'cause you go to Gallagher, and you're a girl." He said slowly, as if to someone who was hard- of- hearing.

"I know that." I snapped. "I just was wondering why- nevermind." You just couldn't win with this guy.

I swept my eyes along the length of the street, trying to spot anything unusual. It was like playing Where's Waldo or I Spy. The irony.

My skin prickled when I saw an older teenage boy, probably around 17 or 18. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, and sleep was probably a luxury to him; he looked well underslept and very tired. But why was I freaking out? No, it wasn't hormones or anything like that, or that a guy was actually looking at me. (Though staring would be an understatement. That guy had enough intensity in his stare to burn a hole through a wall.)

I gripped Jake's hand tighter, and leaned closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder. If he looked surprised, I missed it. Right on cue, he smiled at me and turned to whisper to my ear.

"You have eyes on them?" He asked, smirking slightly as if he was teasing me.

I let out a peal of laughter, before tiptoeing and reaching his ear back, smiling again as I did.

"Eyes on something. Not them."

He yawned, before asking me, "Are you hungry? Where do you want to eat?"

I widened my eyes, before getting his drift. I mentally grinned, as on the outside, I bit my lip, like I was thinking hard.

"How's that place?" I asked, tipping my head towards a diner, hidden from the view of the Subject but perfect for watching. "It has a good view." A view perfect for spies.

And he understood, the inner spy working with the cover of a civilian. "Awesome," he spoke, moving his arms up to my shoulders and bringing us closer. I swallowed, feeling the butterflies in my stomach. He must've noticed something, because he squeezed my shoulder softly before maneuvering us, twisting in and out of the crowd to lose anyone, before entering the diner.

But as soon as we sat down at our table, the Subject abruptly disappeared. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Even if he wasn't a threat, I should've been able to know where he went.

My mind whirled in thought, examining everything I had seen, both consciously and unconsciously. All the exits possible, all the faces in the crowd. Everything.

I gasped, my mind finding something in the crowd of unsuspecting civilians. Inner spies working with cover of a civilian.

Jake glanced at me, his eyes slightly laced with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

I coughed, then took a sip of my water, trying to cover up. "I'm fine," I said evenly. "The air's kind of stuffy, though. You know how I can't breathe as easily with stuffy air."

He easily took the end of the lie and tied it into the truth. "Right, right," he spoke, standing and reaching for me. "I should've realized, I'm sorry." He gently hoisted me out of the chair and briefly spoke with the waitress, who nodded with an understanding smile and maybe some eye fluttering for Jake and a glare for me.

Escorting me outside, we entered the stream of people while he gripped my hand.

I remembered the glare that the waitress shot at me and hastily reclaimed my cover.

Nestling my head against him, I hooked my arm around him. He looked at me questionably.

"Oh, Tracy," I spoke sweetly, and savored the twitch reaction from him, "I love how we're finally together!"

He narrowed his eyes at me, before smiling back just as sweetly. "I do too," he replied, then paused, "...Gillian." Then he smirked at me. Real smirkage.

I mentally rolled my eyes but kept on smiling at him, keeping the cover tight and close. "I can't wait to go on a double date with Erika and Aiden! Just, you know, maybe outside of that diner just now?"

Maybe I said that a bit too obviously, but he got the message.

Just then, the comms unit buzzed to life in my ear. "Wizard and Lynx, compromised. Return to the van."

I relaxed slightly with those words. With our tail gone, we wouldn't be eliminated. I looked up at Jake, expecting the same reaction.

But he looked tense, glancing around. His arm around me tightened, and I winced in pain.

"Tracy, that hurts," I whined, my hand on top of his hand that was on my shoulder.

He widened his eyes, then relaxed his arm. "Sorry, sweetheart," he whispered. I batted my eyes at him, and he rolled his eyes. This was slightly entertaining.

"Crowd's thinning out," he whispered again, and this time it was me who tensed.

Tailing was one of the first things we learned. Staying in movement, along with the normal people, that was the way to tail people. Not hiding behind bushes or trash cans. Hiding in plain sight. A crowd was great protection until it began to thin out. And when the first signs began to show, you were supposed to change crowds.

_Stupid. Idiot. I am trained for this_, I though_t. If I can't even watch the tide of the crowd, I won't be able to tail people._

It was too late, however. "It'll just be a couple of seconds," he whispered, and I nodded. A couple of seconds without a cover. But spies never let go of their cover. They live with it their entire lives, living in a shell of false information.

I felt eyes. On me. I could feel them, straining through me. I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes desperately looking. It was bad timing. No cover, and one too many pairs of eyes to see.

Then, I found him. The guy from earlier. I had skipped over him too many times while looking. He blended in with the crowd, good. Better than me. Better than us. Even if I had my cover intact, nothing would have changed. His sight would blaze through my cover and burn it all. But still I tried to salvage it.

"Abort, abort," I whispered harshly to Jake, who widened his eyes, confused. Too late.

The guy could tell my intentions. In a moment, he smashed my cover to pieces.

His eyes were trained on me, and I read his lips. _Gallagher Girl._


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

Hey guys. Recent appearance (It's Nana! Woo!) since Erika's been taking care of the uploading for a while now :D I love action filled chapters, don't you?

Once again, review or PM with love and we'll be so happy! Enjoy~

And hi this is Erika. Just so answer a question that we got, the seventh graders are doing CoveOps because the trustees' decision.

Thanks for reading!

I bit my lip.

This was a bad situation. And it was something that the textbook didn't describe in detail.

Someone had cracked my cover, someone who wasn't supposed to. And apparently Townsend was sitting back in his chair eating donuts. Or something.

He reached us, quite easily, through the thinning crowd. And he had a cover of his own.

"Hey," he spoke, smiling at me like we were long lost friends. "Haven't seen you in a while! Let's catch up!" His eyes spoke differently. Get in a different location and talk, they said.

I looked him over. He was strong, without a doubt. Muscled. He was one of us. Even if we try, we wouldn't win. Maybe one of us could run away, but what about the other?

I glanced at Jake. Sure, he was pretty strong, but this guy was years older than him, and definitely would win.

So I meekly nodded and smiled back and replied back in spy language: We'll listen and do whatever you say.

Jake looked like he was about to argue, but I shot him a look and he shut up. I noticed the guy crack a real, sad smile at that and wondered why.

We went through a maze of Roseville, and totally went against Townsend's instructions. But I don't hear him talking.

We reach the edge of town, at which point we all wearily tear off our covers with no one else to see.

"Didn't think you would have an exercise today in town," the guy replied tiredly. He ran his fingers through his hair and examined us.

"You're a Sutton, aren't you?" He asked me, and I widened my eyes in surprise.

"How do you know?" I asked, my voice cracking.

He laughed. "I know a Sutton when I see one," he replied, edging around the question. "To think she'll let her sister in this … business."

My temper fired up. Maybe it was because of those words, or of the failure of today. Either way, I let it loose.

"Don't you ever say that," I snarled. "I chose this business, as you say it. It was my choice. And maybe I didn't know everything behind it, but it's my choice."

He regarded me after those words, and nodded. "That's right. At least you get to say that. Isn't that right, Blackthorne?"

I saw Jake grow pale with those words. "...Goode?" he whispered.

He laughed. "Looks like I'm famous, aren't I?"

Jake swallowed. "What are you doing here?"

He ignored the question, while my mind was racked with unanswered questions. Goode? Was he a Blackthorne? And why was he here?

Tapping his ear, he nodded to me. "Get out your comms unit, will you? I bet your teacher can explain."

I took it out without a word, and passed it to him.

He, after a quick inspection, put it in his ear and listened for a second. Then this time, he grew pale.

"How long has it been like this?" he asked urgently.

"Like what?" I asked.

I saw his tension rise. "No voices. No static. There's nothing."

"Why?" I panicked at his words. "What does it mean?"

He looked at the comms unit and replied, with a tight face, "Someone tapped into the feed. We've been compromised."

"Compromised?" I whisper. He nods.

We both know what that means. It means we had a leak. It means that we are in danger without any help. We are alone.

Finally, Jake speaks. "It's been like that, since, what, we left the restaurant? The last one we heard was about our tail being eliminated." I nod at that. It's true, maybe around half an hour or so.

"But..." I let my words trail off. "But we're seventh graders! We're on our first exercise! Why now!"

Goode shrugs. "It's because you're a Gallagher Girl. And even more over that, it's because you're already getting the skills for it. I have no idea why they started CoveOps for the seventh graders."

I felt my blood drop with realization that this was what Liz wanted me away from. The danger of being a Gallagher Girl. The feeling that you're never going to know when you're going to die.

"There must be something we can do." Jake's words slap me awake.

"That's right," I say with more energy. I am a Gallagher Girl, ready to protect my Sisterhood. I am Eleanor Sutton. I am not a helpless girl with no skills to protect myself.

Goode's eyes sharpen. "You're right. Regardless whatever level you're at, they are expecting fumbling kids with no experience. Even with me here, they think they can take you with no sweat."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"They'd have killed us already," he shrugs.

First thing to do is go and find a crowd. Become our covers. Live them like they are real.

And we do that. I see Goode flirting with a girl, his smiling looks never revealing anything.

I see ourselves, Jake and I, as we pass a mirror. We look like a couple. We look like we are in love. With our arms hooked, giggling and smiling, we are living our covers.

It's not enough, though. I spot out of the corner of my eye, a flash of a tail. My adrenaline runs, and I fight to stay calm. No one would attack in a crowd. Not with innocent casualties. At least, that's what I tell myself.

Random thoughts come spilling into my head. I try to remember all that we've learned in P&E and attacks, though I've committed them all to memory and can execute them perfectly. The more nervous and scared I am, another piece of my cover crumbles apart. My breath becomes slightly ragged and I clutch Jake a little too tightly.

He winced. "Ow, Gillian." But in an imperceptible whisper, he says "Calm down, Ellie. They'll be able to find us easier if you keep it up. Just play along." His voice is reassuring, but I can tell he's just as terrified as I am.

We round a corner, following the tide of the crowd until I give a small gasp. Jake shoots me a worried look and asks, "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"I _lost_ something. Do you know where my _good_ earrings are?" I add slight emphasis on some words to tell him the message. We lost sight of Goode. He blends into the crowd so well that we can't find him, our only backup.

_Please understand _I tell Jake mentally. Sure enough, his eyes widen ever so slightly. He eyes sweep the street before he looks back at me. He couldn't find him either.

"No, sorry sweetheart. Do you want to go back to the restaurant to check?"

I nod. We found Goode outside of the restaurant. Maybe we'll get lucky again.

We go back to the glaring waitress, and this time, I occurs to me how familiar she looks though I've only met her once.

Leading us to a table, I trip on the floorboards and end up sprawling on the floor. I curse quietly. My knee how had a scrape and I'm walking with a slight limp.

Jake gives me a look that says "_Really. _And now _this_."

The waitress's eyes widen in surprise and quickly ushers me towards the kitchen.

"Oh, honey, are you alright? I think I have some ice and band-aids in the kitchen. Follow me."

I give Jake a questioning glance saying, "Are we in?" If we go in, we're most likely vulnerable to attack, and it's hard to get out. On the other hand, our tailers wouldn't be able to go into the kitchen.

"Tracy, you coming?"

He ponders for a minute, and we exchange glances. "Sure, Gillian."

The waitress comes in after us, the door swinging behind her. Her smile quickly turns malicious, and my blood freezes. I see a metal object in her hands. She looked so familiar... because she was the tail I saw on the street. I gasp, and Jake stiffens beside me. I've been so stupid. I mentally kick myself for dragging Jake down with me. We're trapped.

"You were the tail." I state the obvious.

"What do they teach you at that school of yours? You can't even spot a tail in front of your face," she sneered.

My temper flared, but I suppressed my feelings. Nothing good could come out of angering her. It wasn't my school's fault that I wasn't good enough. Smart enough. Strong enough. I was careless.

"Please." I plead. "What do you want from us? We didn't do anything."

"Like you don't know." She spat.

I could feel a fight coming on, like the eerie calm before a storm. The silence was tense and every cell of my thrummed with energy.

I quickly glanced at Jake who never took his eyes of the woman's face. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see movement from his fingers. By his sides, his fingers flashed- one... two... three!

I aimed a kick at her knee, but her knife was faster. I had just enough time to jump away before getting sliced to ribbons. While she was facing me, Jake quickly kicked the back of her kneecap, collapsing her leg and making her fall. I swiftly kicked the knife out of her reach.

Taking advantage of my shifting weight, she spun her leg and tripped my steady foot, causing me to land badly on my ankle and flat on my back, the wind knocked out of me. I gasped in pain, and the woman pounced, punching me in the face. The pain stunned me for a second and I faintly tasted blood. My vision went blurry, and my cheekbone ached and was quickly swelling.

"Jake, run!" I screamed.

The woman pressed her hand to my nose and mouth, effectively cutting off my screams. At first I thought she was trying to suffocate me, I struggled under her firm grip. I took a quick breath and I realized that she was holding a rag laced with a drug. As a survival instinct, I jerked and kneed her in the stomach. I felt satisfied when I heard her gasp.

_Then everything went black._


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **

**Nana: Hey hey hey guys! Totally listening to 'A Beautiful Mess' by Jason Mraz and I'm feeling so calm. (I'm never calm btw.) Anyways, welcome to our latest chapter! And thank you so much, our regular readers kgorange and luvslove! Especially your encouraging reviews, they make our day so nice and fluffy. Like sponge cake. I love sponge cake. And like, strawberry cake and chocolate cake and tiramisu and castella and roll cake and- **

**(interrupted by whatever you want to say because i'm going to continue on with all my other cakes :D)**

I open my eyes to a small, square concrete room with a tiny round window with a grate fastened on it.

My entire body is sore and weak, like waking up the morning after an extra long day of P&E. My thoughts are slow and sluggish and my reflexes are slow. I have a pounding headache, and I lie there looking at the ceiling for what feels like 5 minutes, unable to process a thought. _Is this what a hangover feels like?_ I think. Not like I'd know anyway.

I quickly assess my injuries. The knee I fell on was swollen- so was my ankle and the left side of my face. _But nothing a spy couldn't handle,_ I tell myself grimly.

At once, like your web page loading at the last second, the recent events come back to me. I remembered being attacked by a waitress with a knife and being knocked out with drugs. Talk about bad customer service. With a pang, I remember telling Jake to run. I wonder if he ever made it.

_Wait a minute. Jake._

I bolt up into a standing position and quickly rake my eyes across the cell. I gasp aloud when I see a slumped body of a boy in the corner, with bloodstains on his clothes and smears of it on his face. Were my kidnappers this cruel to leave the last resident of the cell here? Swallowing my disgust, I crawl over to the body to inspect it closer. It's hard to see his face clearly with the dirt on it, but I can make out tanned skin and high cheekbones. I can't tell what color his eyes were- they were hiding under his lids. His dark hair is mussed and unkept and his clothes are wrinkled. I feel tears pool into my eyes when I realize that this boy can't be much older than me. I remember orientation and wll those who have died for their jobs, but this seemed the most tragic. This boy couldn't be older than 15 at the most.

I start crying, holding my hand over my mouth to stifle sobs. He reminded me so much of Jake. He's even wearing similar clothes.

_wait._

_oh my-_

I gasp in realization and disbelief. Like an enormous weight dropped on me, I'm unable to do anything- breathe, blink, or scream. It's like I'm frozen.

_No. _No._ It can't be._

_It's not fair_, I thought, _He didn't do anything. He probably risked his life for me. _

I shake my head. He would have run if he could. They must've caught him.

I realize that It was my mistake that led us to our captives. My fault. In a way, it wasn't the blow from them that killed him. It was me.

With a shaking hand, I reach up to his neck and read his pulse. The second my skin touches his, my hand gets twisted quickly into a sharp, painful angle. I scream in shock and pain, and my heart hammers in my throat.

"Jake?" I breathe.

His eyes flutter open to reveal bright green-hazel ones.

"Oh god!" He says, his voice gravelly from disuse, "I'm sorry!" He quickly releases my hand. He takes a few seconds to adjust to the room and his eyes land on me.

His eyes widened. "Ellie, are you okay?" he croaked.

I looked at him with disbelief. "Are you _kidding_ me? You have blood all over you and a minute ago, I thought you were _dead_. You're asking _me_ if I'm okay?" I shriek almost hysterically.

"Uh, yeah. No offense Ellie, but to put it nicely, you look like heck."

That's it. I'm so shaky and weak from relief that I start laughing until I can't stop.

"Oh my god, you're okay." I finally say happily. "And heck?" I ask curiously. Most of the boys I know, or scratch that, most of the _Blackthorne _boys I know swear freely and excessively. Out of earshot from the teacher, of course.

"Yeah." He smiles a little. "Force of habit. I have a little sister."

I smile a little at that. We're sitting next to each other, backs pressed against the concrete wall. We're still for a minute, and listen for anything. _Silence. _

"Where do you think we are?" I ask, "Do you think they're looking for us?"

"I have no idea. And probably."

I remember something from the fight.

"Jake," I ask quietly. "Why didn't you run? You would've made it."

"Yeah, I probably would have."

My inner Sutton burned for answers, to find the truth. I couldn't leave it at that.

"Then why?" I demanded.

He sighs. "Do you seriously think I would've left you to die there? I mean, I've only just met you, but what I found out you were dead? How would you think _I_ would feel? I'd regret my selfishness for the rest of my life to know that if I stayed, I could've saved my partner instead of leaving her there to die."

_I'd know how you would've felt_ I thought. _Because until moments ago that you were dead too._

"Thank you, Jake." I say simply.

"No problem."

We're quiet for a minute, listening to the beautiful song of our breathing. Never have I been so grateful that I was alive.

He breaks the silence first.

"Ellie?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you know why I laughed at you the first day?"

I involuntarily tense a little, and my eyes narrow slightly.

"No." I said curtly. I stare straight so I don't have to look at him.

"I told Aiden and Tyler how much you remind me of my sister. Right down to the looks. She has almost the same blonde hair and blue eyes as you. You act similar, too." He sighs. "I miss her."

I feel guilt and sadness. "I miss my sister too." I whisper.

I pause, "Dang. And here I was thinking you were an egotistical jerk. Thanks, Jake." I say sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. "You're welcome, Ellie."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

**Hello! It's Erika :) Thanks to all who have stuck around this far! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review. It means the world to us! **

We spend the next hour talking because the silence makes us tense, listening for our captives but hearing nothing. This makes me uneasy. If they took us, why weren't they doing anything? Interrogation? Torture? Dizzy thoughts swirled in my head. I could be dead by tomorrow for all I know. I distract myself with conversation.

I learn that Jake comes from a non-spy family, like mine. He's fiercely protective of his little sister who is only six, almost as protective as Liz of me. We trade trivial facts, nothing that you wouldn't tell a friend and nothing that was classified.

He suddenly asks, "Why is your codename Lily?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" I said sarcastically.

"Just curious."

"I thought you were a spy."

He shrugged.

They have an air of innocence to them that I can never manage to keep. The innocence that I had lost, that I will never regain after seeing what my eyes can never unsee. My sister tried to warn me.

"Lilies are my favorite flowers." I say sadly, before a memory flashes back.

(flashback)

It was one summer, one hot sunny summer I remember as the pain of the sunburn from sleeping at the side of the lake fleshing out the red skin I had. Liz was with me, getting the same sunburn all over her body. It was one more thing we shared that was buried under different, piled upon things unto ourselves. No one would ever notice after the burn had gone away, but the experience was still fresh in mind and will be, for a while.

It was the same with the lies.

Maybe they were trying to reassure me, to hide me from what had already hurt Liz. Once I had agreed with them about the lies, that what my eyes had seen were nothing but hallucinations, everything seem to disappear under the file named, 'Solved'. But I had remembered. How desperately my mind had fought against their lies, to prove its innocence it had already lost.

I had seen a Gallagher Girl. And this term was contradictory in itself. To name a Gallagher student as a girl, the less dominant of the human species. When they were taught to be as strong as the men, to be stronger, to not just be girls.

Everything was a blur; my memory was broken into pieces that I couldn't validate as the truth. All I know was of Liz's reassure squeeze of my hand, a metallic smell floating in the air, and her whispers that calmed me down.

She only stated the truth. And I was glad. She won't say, "The danger's gone, Ellie. It's okay. You'll be safe."

All she said was, "I'm with you. I will always be with you."

I held onto those words, even as the ambulance pulled me into its flashing lights and siren; even as I had lost the grip of Liz's hand.

When I woke up next, the thing I saw was the vase of lilies on the table next to me. I smashed it to pieces. My fifth grader hands were bloody with the shards of the vase, and the smell of blood and lilies mixing together in a smell that would rather be forgotten.

"She's probably in shock," Liz murmurs, and nods to Mom, who I notice is standing in the corner, small, as she views me with the eyes of a stranger. She can't recognize me, not in a hospital bed, not with a concussion. Not in danger.

It turned out I did have a concussion (back of my head), several bruised areas (black and blue all the way), a broken arm (still left me a right hand to do homework) and a broken memory.

(end flashback)

"Do you ever regret becoming a spy?" He asks.

I ponder the question. This is one of the few questions that I can't answer.

"You should, like, become a physiatrist or something. We should call you Dr. Jake." I say lamely to avoid the question.

"That's not an answer."

I leaned back against the wall behind me, wincing as my hand screamed in pain.

"We'll see." My eyes were trained on the ceiling.

He seems to accept this answer. "Fair enough. Tell me once we're out of here." He says. I smile at that. "Sometimes I regret going to Blackthorne. I think about seeing my sister grow up, and seeing my parents. Going to public school, having lockers." He smirked. "Seems so unrealistic now, doesn't it? Especially stuck in some secret room being readied for some awesome torture, right?"

My blood drained from my face at that, and he noticed. "Oh god, Ellie," he said, eyes wide, "I'm sorry. Totally didn't mean that."

I swallow hard, biting the inside of my cheek trying to keep the tears inside. "No, it's al-"

I was cut short by a cruel, high laugh. "Are you sure, little boy? Blackthrone does have some outstanding curriculum, last time I remember." I could see the figure of a woman, curvy, and tall, make her way to us from the shadows. Was she here the entire time?

With that comment, Jake's face hardened. "And of course some bitch like you would know what they teach there, won't they?"

His words earned him a hard slap against his face, and I could hear him gasp in pain, as he spit out blood. I breathed in harshly, my eyes trying to hide from the pain.

"Oh," she laughed again, her eyes bulging, "that hurt, didn't it? Especially with a face like yours," she spoke with sarcastic love. "Well, darling, I'll give you a face so different a small slap like that won't be anything." With that, she swirled to me and her eyes narrowed. I bit my lip. "A Gallagher Girl." Her words were unfeeling, for once. I dared to meet her eyes. "Well, well. I heard they were doing some special education, but this? Cutie like you, you shouldn't be with a Blackthorne Boy. They'll cut you and scratch you and shoot you so hard it'll hurt like hard, real pain. They'll rip your heart apart, sweetie."

I saved myself some dignity by spitting in her face. "For your information, lady, I have my standards. Don't you dare make your assumptions." I shrank back, slightly, thinking if dodging it was possible. No, she'd do something worse, that I can't dodge, if I do the first.

But to my surprise, she smiled at me. It wasn't a happy or a kind smile. It was the kind of smile you share... when you think something is good.

"Don't smile at me!" I screamed, scared of her thoughts. She just grinned larger.

"My goodness," she purred, full of something I didn't want to know, "wonderful. Gallagher Girls are so full of spunk, aren't they?"

Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she reached into her jacket and her fingers gripped something I hoped it wasn't. I'd watched enough cop shows to know what it was. I panicked. She was going to kill me. Kill me here in a room with no one to know I was dead, except for Jake, who'd die as well. I'll die without telling Liz I was sorry, so sorry for what had happened that summer. I'll die without telling Erika and Cam how much I loved them. I'll die without telling Jake how he wasn't that bad after all, that maybe if we lived together in our next life, we could be friends.

But as she pulled out the gun, she didn't point it at me.

She pointed it at Jake.

He stiffened, his eyes trained on the gun with certainty. He seemed so determined. Not to get away, but to stay where he was. To be brave until the last second. Shame began to overflow in me. I was thinking of myself this entire time; every single second I was in here.

It was my fault Jake was in here. She was supposed to kill me. My thoughts are selfish.

I inhaled in and out, knowing my time was limited. I have never thought of what Jake would think, and this time, I didn't either. I just went on my instincts without a second thought. I jumped.

I screamed, louder than before, as I felt the tiny bullet shoot itself into my arm, as I fell in pain right in front of Jake. Taking the bullet that would've killed him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone, welcome to our latest chapter ;) sorry for the irregular updating this past week; we'll try and keep a good schedule from now on. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read last time! Love you guys~ **

**-Nana**

It was agony. The bullet was invading my body, having a place that it didn't deserve. So I did what my instincts told me to do.

I cried, moaned, screamed, whimpered at the pain. It didn't help. I could barely feel the sticky tears trickle their way down my face. All I felt was the pain.

My senses were overworked. I heard screams, gunshots, voices that seemed to kill my head every second, and I thought they were hallucinations. My first gunshot wound and I'm hallucinating. Wonderful.

All around me was chaos. I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. Liz's face, whispering that I'm with you, you'll be alright? False. The touch on my arm, Jake's whimpering voice? True. Arguing voices as I felt myself being lifted and the pain of my arm killing me so much I passed out? True.

I woke up, once, feeling a major headache and deciding not to open my eyes. For good reason.

"She'll be fine," I hear a calm, alert voice speaking, as if I'm not a person. As if I'm some dog, her life only a comfort and not a priority to its owners. "She'll survive."

And the voice that I hear that combats this is not Liz.

It's Jake.

"She'll survive?" Oh, I hear the sarcasm in there tucked in deep inside. "Oh right, she'll survive a gunshot and torture and kidnap with a perfectly sound mind without being scared her entire life and never trusting anyone again! Right. A seventh grader is perfectly capable of that." By the time he stopped, his words were practically dripping in sarcasm.

The first speaker, a middle aged woman by the sound of her voice, strains in keeping composure. "Your rude tone would rarely be forgiven, Blackthorne, if not for your sudden experiences." Her voice softens, into what seems like sympathy. Jake totally runs it over with a monster truck.

"My rude tone would be always forgiven for what you and the other higher ups plan out!" He shouts, his anger clear in his voice. "You planned to do this tonight. You knew of the kidnapping attempt. You knew and didn't help us!" He quiets down, his words a whisper. "You knew and didn't help her."

The room is quiet for a moment, until a familiar voice sounds ahead. It's Liz.

"He's right."

She pauses. "I can guarantee you will regret this, Ms. Hollenback. To put an untrained seventh grader in the line of combat? It's different for juniors, or even sophomores. But not seventh graders. Not innocent young girls who might've never have chosen such a horrible path."

"She is not untrained." Ms, Hollenback's voice was now severe and cold, daring people to talk back to her. "She has undertaken the session of Covert Operations, if I am correct, taught by Mr. Townsend, who is an excellent spy and teacher. And innocent?" Her last sentence mocked Liz's words. "According to my files, she wasn't as innocent since... I believe, a few summers ago?"

Liz's eyes flash. "And how is that in any way her fault?" she demanded.

The conversation was still continuing, growing larger and louder, but I drifted off again. I don't want to fight anyone right. Not words, not guns, not statistics. I just want to sleep.

I wake up again. First thing I do: try to sneakily peek through my eyelids to see if anyone's there.

But Liz catches me at once. "Ellie?" she shrieks, jumping up from her chair at once. Her hand around mine tightens, and I hear tears. "Oh my god, Ellie," she cries, gasping and sobbing and sounding so guilty and sad I can't help but cry too.

Not that that does anything good.

She notices my tears and goes quickly into calm operative mode. "All you all right? Any pain?"

I manage to shake my head and sit up, against the complaints of Liz. I'm still crying, my hands trying to wipe away all the tears. Liz drops the operative mode and goes back to sad crying. I join her, leaning onto her as she sits on my bed.

There's a certain numbing pain that hooks onto my body and I can tell it's going to be there for a while. Not just the bruises, or the gunshot wound on my arm.

It's the numbing pain of what the truth can do to you.

"They drugged you, the waitress," Mr. Townsend said unemotionally, his fingers brushing through his hair as his eyes met mine. "Do you remember that?"

I nod. I did. I remembered that I was late in seeing, in noticing that she wasn't who she was. But I stay quiet.

"They took you to a warehouse, on the outskirts of town. They were prepared for this. They knew what they were doing, and they knew you were a seventh grader."

My voice rasped, as I whispered, hoarse, "Who is _they_, Mr. Townsend?"

He stood up from his chair, and as I thought he would leave without answering, he replied, his back to me, prepared to open the door and leave.

"They are the people who threaten your sisterhood."

For some reason, at his words, tears began to trickle down my face. I sniffed, easing my arm as I laid back down on my bed, tired beyond reason. I could feel Liz's hand gently stroking my hair, as I drifted off into the safety of my dreams.

But they weren't safe. In a way, they were scarier than reality, because every time I laid my head down to rest, my eyes closing, the repetition of the kidnapping happened.

It was distorted and different every time, but each time I still manage to feel the fear that I felt the first time.

I saw millions of the kidnapping woman's grin reflecting into mirror, and as I looked at my reflection she smiled back too.

I saw Jake, screaming in pain with millions of bullets puncturing his body into pieces, his eyes tearing me apart.

I saw myself, alone in the warehouse, bruised and empty and broken, finally. The closest one of all to reality.

At first, while I was still injured and in bed, I just stared up at the ceiling, refusing to return to my dreams. I counted the digits of pi, wishing for the sun to rise.

When I managed to get permission to walk around, I spent my nights wandering around, lost, looking for a path anywhere but back to my dreams. I didn't care how scared Liz looked, or how she would plead with me to stay, to please sleep. Her slender fingers wrapping around my wrist, pulling me back to replay the scenes over and over again. The comms unit. The restaurant. Being a couple with Jake. Getting to live a fragment of a normal life. A kidnapping ruining that memory forever.

I didn't notice, the first time he came to see me. I was huddled up in my bed, hiding in my blanket and crying. It wasn't the first time either, crying alone. I'd just gotten used to knowing the moods of my visitors. I could manage to hide some tears now and then from Liz, even.

He must've left quietly, too, as I didn't notice that either.

The second time, I did notice. He initiated contact first.

It was in the middle of the night, where everyone assumed I'd be sleeping after taking some pills. They were somewhere crushed under my bed, white dust.

My arms were around my knees, my head buried down. That night, I was trying to concentrate on something else other than my dreams. So I did, on a story.

"She said she'll be right back," I mumbled, trying to keep my head clear. "So the girl waited for her, sitting at the bench in front of the ice cream store. But then," and my voice cracked, "she got bored. So she wandered around, curious with every sight around her. Then she smelled them."

Taking a deep breath, I continued. I briefly recall that he must've settled in a corner of my room somewhere without my knowledge, listening as well.  
>"She loved that smell. So much, she followed it through town to the outskirts, happy when she found the source."<p>

"And her sister was there, too, along with the beautiful smell. The girl laughed, a laugh full of innocence, and dashed to her sister, not taking into judgement the factors around her."

I stopped here, my eyes watering. It all went downhill from there. It was brutal. Liz, warning me, her mouth already open, as I smiled at her and jumped into a fight that wasn't meant for little girls.

"Lilies are my favorite flower." I echoed my words from earlier, smiling bitterly.

"That's why your codename is Lily, isn't it?" the voice asked from the corner of my room.

It was sudden, and I'd thought I was alone.

I screamed.

It wasn't the insane, crazy kind of scream. It was the "oh-my-god-what-the-heck-was-that" scream.

"Ellie?" the voice winced.

I took a breath, not knowing what to believe. "Jake?" I asked incredulously.

He walked closer to me, out of the shadows smiling. "Hey, Gallagher Girl," he smirked, his eyes already taking into account my injuries, despite most of them being already healed.

"Jake!" I shrieked, jumping up and hugging him. (With one arm, of course.) He seemed taken back, but gently, he placed his arms around me and gave me comfort. The comfort knowing that I wasn't alone in my dreams or in my reality.

That Jake was the same as me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **

**Woo! 11th chapter :) And such a quick update, yay~ **

**Thanks to: Pianist707, Luvslove, kgorange, zebrababii72, and stephaniek for reviewing~ We love you guys! **

**Also, note: About Ellie's nickname, 'Lily', I'm really sorry if the origin was slightly confusing (I wrote that part, ;;). Basically, that's her first peek into the espionage period of her life~ and also to Liz's actual education. She gets tangled in a fight between spies (which include Liz) as a civilian and ends up getting injured, or that's the basic idea. Really sorry if it's still confusing; not very good at explaining ;^-^**

**At any rate, enjoy this chapter~ **

**-Nana**

I heard a timid, shy knock followed with two girls bursting through the door. I saw Erika and Cam, both sleep deprived and tired quickly engulfing me in a hug.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Erika said frantically. Cam's eyes were bright and full with tears threatening to spill over.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I smiled wobbly, "Guys, we probably look like a scene from _The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants_ or something." I complained half-heartedly. It felt good to see them again.

"We're so sorry we haven't been here sooner." Erika hung her head in misery. "We were detained by trustees and agents. Don't worry, just standard protocol."  
>Cam's tears ran down her cheeks.<p>

"So are you being dispatched today?" Erika asked.

"Yep. Time to go home." I smiled.

Linking arms with Erika and Cam, we made our way up the grand staircase and to our dorm.

Double-checking for bugs, we sat on Erika's bed to catch up.

"A gunshot wound... wow" Erika breathed. It felt weird to hear, Erika was always the one in action, the one who always did everything first. For her to be on the sidelines was a character switch.

"Don't remind me." I groaned. "Not like I could anyway, with this stupid thing on." I held up my heavily bandaged arm.

Cam petted it sympathetically.

"I'm sorry." I said, "You guys look like you haven't had much sleep."

"It's not your fault." Cam whispered.

Erika nodded, agreeing. "It's not your fault that you got kidnapped by an unknown crazy lady and got shot. If it were me... wait scratch that. There's only probably one person in our grade at Gallagher that could've lived to tell the tale. And that person is you. But... Ellie? How did you get shot?"

I took a deep breath.

"I was sloppy. I didn't realize that the woman was our tail. I practically trapped us."

"-us?" Erika cut in.

"Jake and I. They caught both of us."

"I haven't seen Jake in the nurse's office. I just assumed that he got away."

I smiled wanly. "He could've."

"But he didn't" She said.

"Yeah. Is he okay? What happened to everyone else? Why did the line go silent?" I was bursting with questions.

"He's fine. So is Aiden and Tyler and everyone else. They think your kidnapper intercepted the line. Everyone made it back to the van except you guys. Townsend drove us back and sent a search party for you guys."

"Search party?"

She grinned. "El, you sister and her friends are freaking awesome."

"Liz found us? How come I don't remember?"

"When you came to Gallagher, Liz planted a tracking chip in you. Overprotective much? But anyway, It practically saved your life because that's how they found you. Sounds cliche but they burst through the door as soon as she shot you. Bex and Macey kicked butt, but she got away because she had a gun. Liz was at Gallagher running comms and data."

"You probably didn't remember because you were all, like, hysterical."

She paused and studied my face as I took in all this information.

"Don't worry, Ellie. We'll find her." She whispered. Cam rubbed small circles on my back.

Erika got up to use the bathroom but moments later we heard her scream.

I shared a wide- eyed look with Cam as we crept to the door, listening. On three, I mouthed. Guess I picked that up from Jake.

Oh god, what if the woman snuck into Gallagher? Impossible, I thought, but I was still scared out of my wits.

One,  
>two,<br>three!

I roundhouse kicked the door open to see a shocked Erika on the floor clutching her head.

"Where is she? What happened?" I yelled.

"Umm... _ow?_ You know that door you just kicked Ellie? It connected with my face." She said irritably.

I was still confused.

"Why did you scream then?" I said, suddenly angry. "What if something happened to you?"

"I screamed because _this _was taped to the mirror." She thrust a piece or evapo-paper in my face. "How did we miss this? We checked the room over."

My heart quickened its pace. With Cam reading over my shoulder, I started to read:

_Ellie-_  
><em>Meet at the library asap.<em>

"What do we do, guys?" I whispered. "It's not signed."

"I think... We should go." Erika stated boldly.

"But what if it's _her_?" I asked.

"It cannot be. There's no way she can get into Gallagher alone. Besides, I'll go then. They won't be expecting me." Erika beamed, confident of her plan.

"Well... I guess. I don't want you to get hurt for me, though."

She just retorted, "Ellie, there's little in the world I wouldn't do for you guys. So suck it up sweetie! We have to go _now_." She practically sang dragging us of of the door.

Fortunately, it was the weekend so the halls weren't as busy. Unfortunately for us, the library was deserted, and the lights were unusually dim. It looked like a scene from a horror movie. Every instinct in my body told me to run.

"Guys? This doesn't feel right." I whispered.

Erika quietly shushed me and told me to wait by the entrance. Cam and I never took our eyes off her silouette as she made her ways through the winding bookcases. I winced every time her velvet tread make a slight noise.

You know how everything slows down in an action movie? Time seemed to slow as I watched Erika's back turn on the shadows that came out from the shelves behind her. Cam gasped sharply. She'd seen it too.

"Run! Behind you!" I screamed. _Oh God, I knew it. _The shadow's hand placed itself on her shoulder.

Erika spun around, aiming a well-placed kick to their head.

The shadow's hand caught her foot and clamped a hand on her mouth.

"Shut up or else you'll get us caught! It's a library, you know!" The shadow's voice hissed in a british accent.

Suddenly, a row of lights flicked on. I saw Bex release Erika gently.

Macey and Liz lithely appeared from the other rows.

"Wow... I didn't even hear you guys." Erika breathed in awe.

"What were you thinking? We thought you were an attacker or something! Why'd you plan it like an ambush? You scared the heck out of us!" I started on one of my infamous rants.

I heard Macey sigh impatiently. "See Bex? I told you to sign the note!"

"Couldn't risk it getting intercepted." Bex said with a cheerful shrug.

Liz lead us to the big plush chairs at the back or the library near the fireplace. Hidden behind rows of shelves from the entrance.

"We need to talk." She said.

Just as we sat down, we heard a commotion from the doors being swung open and fast footsteps following.

We jump out of our seats and hide behind bookshelves, like a grand version of hide and seek.

I see Liz give me a warning look and she presses a finger to her lips.

_Total silence._

"Ellie?" A male voice calls.

My eyes widen. Bex, who's been slinking through rows to see who it was comes back and winks. "It's for you." she says slyly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note:**

**Hey guys! It's Erika. :D**

**Thanks for reading! Any questions, comments, ideas, PM us please!**

**Enjoy!**

I narrow my eyes in confusion and round the corner to crash into a tall, solid figure. I groan and clutch my head and momentarily see sparks.

Opening my eyes against the throbbing pain, they meet a pair of green-hazel ones.

"Jake?"

"Ellie?"

I rolled my eyes. "We have _got_ to stop doing this. Are you trying to send me back to the nurse?"

He retorted, "'Course not. I just thought I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I did. But it was just my sister and her friends." I smile gratefully. "Thanks, though."

Before he could reply, two figures ran through the door panting. Tyler and Aiden.

What's with grand entrances today?

"Dude- what is _wrong _with you?" Tyler complains through several pants. "After you heard someone yell, you took off like a freaking jet." He's sprawled out on the floor from collapsing. It's so odd to see cool, calm, collected Tyler look like this. I bite back a laugh.

I give Jake a questioning look but he stared pointedly away from me.

"I think I know why." Aiden says smiling, but not tauntingly when he sees me.

"Oh its you." Tyler says, stating the obvious.

I shoot him a mock-glare "Gee, thanks."

"No problem Sutton." He grins at me.

"Why are you in a dark library by yourself on the weekend, Ellie?" Aiden asks, concerned.

I smile. Aiden is the kind of person that you couldn't help but like. Always good-natured and kind to everyone.

"Actually, I'm not alone," I said, glancing at the stack of shelves which Erika just jumped out of.

"Well, thanks a lot Ellie." she says sarcastically, mock- sighing. "You blew our covers."

Cam melted from the dark like a shadow, silent and still.

"Wait, I thought you said you sister and her friends were here too?" asked Jake.

_My, ever the perceptive one aren't we?_

"Yes." I say reluctantly. "But you can't tell anyone we were here or what we're doing okay? Or else I'll have to kill you." I smirk.

"Cross my heart." Jake drags a finger across his chest.

"What are we not doing, by the way?" asks Tyler.

"_We?_" snaps Macey who emerged with Liz and Bex.

Most people would get nervous just looking at Macey's cocked eyebrow stare. Tyler just returned it with an equally cool stare.

"Yeah, that's what I just said, didn't I?" He says.

I see a new light of respect in Macey's eyes. It wasn't everyday that someone had the guts to stand up to _Macey McHenry_.

"I like this kid." She says to Liz and Bex.

"Well, I still don't think we should involve the boys in this." Liz says with finality.

"Liz," I say trying to make my voice sound mature and reasonable, "They took Jake too. Why shouldn't we involve him?"

Liz bites her lip, torn. "Fine."

On cue, we follow her to the back of the library where we were just at, with Macey and Bex bringing up the rear.

There weren't enough chairs for all of us- there were only four, all facing each other in a circle. Fortunately, the huge armrest chairs could seat more people if you knew how. In one, Liz sat on the seat and Macey and Bex each perched on the armrests, perfectly poised. I exchanged a three- way glance with Cam and Erika. (Not the easiest thing to do.) We smirked and shared a knowing smile. At once, we all split ways, diving into the last three chairs laughing.

I see Liz with a small, sad smile on her face and Macey wraps an arm gently around her.

I give Jake a triumphant smile, and see how the rest of them ended up. Aiden looked content as sat on the ground leaning against Cam's chair. Erika and Tyler, however, was a whole different story.

"C'mon, Erika!" Tyler complained, "At least give me the armrest!"

She stuck out her tongue. "Mad that a _girl_ beat you?"

"What girl?" He replies, completely aware of what he just said.

"Oooooh!" Jake crows. I slap him.

Bex snickers, but I can't blame her. They're so amusing.

"Want to take that back, Hale?" she threatens.

"Mmm... no, I'm good." He says cheerfully.

She lunges at him, tackling him around the waist and pinning him to the ground. They both recover quickly and jump on the chair at the same time.

"Truce, truce!" Macey yells. "You both can sit on the chair, okay? Jeez!"

Tyler grins and takes up most of the room, leaving Erika squished. She refuses to acknowledge his presence, though, she stared pointedly in the other direction with her arms crossed, pretending that he wasn't squished into her right side.

I laugh, and Jake takes advantage of momentary distraction to slide onto my armrest, slightly leaning on me to keep balance. I pretend to be uncomfortable, but it's actually nice.

Bex covertly winks at me, much to my annoyance.

Liz clears her throat, "Erm, okay.. well we just need to contribute to see what everyone knows. For some reason, it's just not adding up. Why would, of all people, in the whole schools, would she want to take a couple of _seventh_ graders. On their first exercise to top it off?"

"Ellie, Jake- I need to guys to tell us _everything_. This wasn't just a random attack- they wanted _you_ for whatever reason."

I feel a shiver up my spine, and Jake sits rigidly.

"You guys should know everything. They debriefed me too, since, I wasn't on my death bed." Jake explains.

Macey huffs impatiently. "Just listen, okay? Start from where you got off the van."

"Okay, well Jake led us to this diner do get our disguises on." I started.

Jake cuts in, "-But not the same diner as the one _she_ was working in, though. A different one."

"Yeah. Then we got our assignments and started finding our subjects. We were walking then we met him." I say.

"Who is _him_?" asks Liz.

"Goode." I say, "I don't even know if its his real name, after all it could just be an alias. I mean-"

"Zach Goode." answers Jake.

Judging by the way Macey, Bex, and Liz'z eyes widened in disbelief, I knew a few things-

One, Zach Goode was probably his real name. Two, He didn't end up back at Gallagher with Jake. Three, for some reason, my sister and her friends knew this guy.

"Zach _Goode_?" Bex chokes out, "Are you _positively_ sure?"

"What did he look like?" asks Macey.

"Mace, what if he had a disguise? A cover?" says Liz reasonably.

Jake and I exchange glances.

"He was tall, maybe a little less than 6 feet, dark brown hair, green eyes, and broad shoulders." I rattled off, racking my brain for the memory.

"Yeah, that's him." Liz says weakly.

Immediately, the three upperclassmen plunged into a heated conversation.

"Bex, I thought you didn't see him since summer vacation in Europe?" Macey explains.

"I did! He was staying then all of a sudden he disappears like a ghost, with no trace." Bex says angrily.

"Maybe he was looking for Cam." Macey whispers.

All their faces fall.

"Maybe. But why would he be in Roseville?" says Liz.

"Who knows? Guys, this isn't over. Cam'll end up eventually." Bex says reassuringly.

The seventh graders all look awkwardly around the room, not wanting to intrude.

Well, until Tyler has a fake coughing seizure.

Erika and Aiden slap him simultaneously. "That was very tactful Hale." Erika rolls her eyes.

"I know right." Tyler says enthusiastically.

"So what happens after you see Zach?" Macey pipes up.

"Well we find a place to talk, after he cracks our covers. Didn't take him long." Jake says.

"And that's when we realize the line was silent." I supply.

Bex bursts out laughing. "Just imagining Townsend running throughout Roseville trying to collect 30 kids who are professionally good at hiding. Brilliant!" She hoots.

"Anyway, we were trying to make our way back to the van when we lose Goode, so we go the the restaurant where we saw Goode again. Then _Ellie_ here trips on flat ground so the waitress- tail brings us to the kitchen for 'band aids'" He puts heavy air quotes.

"Then she pulls out a knife. I ask her why she's doing this, but she says something like 'Like you don't know.'" I squeeze my eyes shut.

"So it was a planned attack. You guys were targeted." Macey says.

Liz suddenly ages ten years. She rubs her temples with a pained look.

"_But why?"_ Her voice breaks. "First, Cam, and now..." Taking a deep breath, she tries to compose herself. Bex and Macey, at her side, have the same exact expression on their face.

"Cam?" I echo, looking at the Cam sitting next to me, who shrugged in confusion.

This time it was Bex who answered, her eyes not meeting mine. "Cameron is our fourth roommate."

There was a long silence that no one, not even Tyler, tried to break.

Until Macey whispered, "And_ the_y wanted her too."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys! Nana here. Yay for new chapter! And a little ElliexJake at the end ;)**

**Enjoy! (And you know, review to make us all happy or PM us for anything!) **

* * *

><p>It was my words that broke the silence first.<p>

"Cameron Morgan," I say, my voice raspy. The realization of the fact, which until now was sitting in the back of my mind, hit me hard.

Bex nodded to everyone's surprised expressions. "The headmistress's daughter," she replied.

I remember the headmistress's expressions at the orientation, and how her face seemed to know exactly the price of being a spy.

"Did they want her because she was her daughter?" Erika asked.

Macey shook her head, no. "We don't know."

"At first, we thought it was Macey being targeted, when the first kidnapping occurred at the election." Liz explains somewhat without her usual energy. "There were reasons why they wanted Macey, as well, having the bloodline of Gillian Gallagher."

We stared at her in shock. Seemingly to regain some of her goddess energy, Macey cocked her hip and smirked.

"Freaking awesome," Erika murmured. I grinned.

"Where is she now?" Aiden asking a question I hadn't thought to ask before.

And my mind began to wonder. Where exactly was she? She wasn't here at the Academy. She wasn't in the hands of the enemy, judging from the words they had spoken.

There was a long pause.

Liz burst into tears. The line of tension and worry I saw in her before snapped, dropping all the weight it carried. Then I realize.

All the times I had seen her this year, looking worried and depressed. It wasn't about just me. The girl Cameron Morgan had a role in this, starting even before school started.

My hands clench into fists unconsciously. I longed to stretch my hand out and meet her trembling fingers in an attempt to comfort her, but I stay still.

I still haven't heard the answer to the question. The possible future that I, as a target, may hold in time.

"She ran away." Bex says curtly.

Aiden wears a pained look, probably sorry he asked. "I'm so sorry." He says, leaning over to console Liz.

But Liz just curls up tighter, shrinking from Aiden's contact. He pauses, reconsiders, and instead rests his arm on the armrest.

I hesitate, wondering if I'm going to regret this. "And who is _they_?" I whisper.

Macey's blue eyes stare into mine for a long moment before she answers, "The Circle of Cavan."

Macey and Bex alternate filling each of us in on the group so intent on getting Cammie Morgan.

I feel the same dread and loss of hope that I felt on the first day during orientation.

"So you think our kidnapper... is from the circle?" Jake asks.

"That's the thing. We're not sure." Macey says wearily.

"Is anyone else looking into this?" Tyler says.

"I don't know. Maybe the headmistress. She couldn't let something like this be ignored." Macey says.

I sigh. "I'm so sick of this 'I don't know' stuff. We need answers."

I see a smile creeping up on Bex's face, and instantly in my mind, the word 'caution' flashes through.

"We do," she said slyly, "and I know exactly where to get them."

I raise my eyebrows, curious, but Macey cuts to the front of the line. "Please don't, Rebecca," she pleads, "Honestly, your ideas are lacking in the word caution, and if we have to bug Mrs. Morgan's office again, I'd prefer it after we graduate."

"Bug the headmistress's office?" asked Erika incredulously, and I couldn't help but agree with her tone.

Bex shrugs. "It's the most efficient way to get easy, reliable information, and-"

She's cut off by Macey. "And the best way to get us expelled, for sure this time!"

There's a short period of silence as they share a stare down, where it seems like a conversation is taking place (with Macey apparently being dragged into Bex's idea).

"You know she would do it for us," Bex speaks, more quieter and with more emotion, "Maybe this is a lead. Zach was in Roseville too. Maybe this all adds up."

Macey just looks at her, and swallows hard. After a second, she agrees, much quieter, with a "Fine."

But as Bex is about to celebrate the victory of her idea coming to life, Macey whirls onto us and glares.

"But this stupid idea of yours, Bex," and at this point, she's back to her hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow, "is not going to include any seventh graders. Period."

Bex considers this for a moment, where Jake and Tyler are ready to jump out of their sitting positions and beat their chests and do whatever Blackthorne boys do to express anger and injustice (Erika and Cam also looking rather ready to pull out some water guns), she nods in agreement.

"Of course," she smoothly says, grinning at us. "We wouldn't want them to steal all the fun, would we?"

"But we gave you all the information we needed!" Tyler protests, whining a little.

"And we're very grateful for that, Hale," Bex says, smirking.

I can tell everyone (the boys, and Erika and Cam) is ready to fight for this. And as they begin to pull up all their arguments, Liz wakes up from her crying.

She's still sniffling, but her eyes are dry and her voice is clear.

"You think it's all fun and games out there?" She demands, winking out a few more tears that I wish I could make them disappear. "This is no time and place for any games. People have been shot out there," and at this point, her voice quivers a bit, but regains its strength. The memory of the pain of the invading bullet in my arm still hasn't been forgotten. The video at the orientation with Macey and Cam, and the other woman being shot wasn't forgotten. "People have died out there. And a battlefield where we lose the people we love is no fit place for seventh graders."

Bex and Macey are no longer grinning and smiling. They have these focused, serious faces on that tell me they're not spoiled teenage girls. They're spies.

Even with Liz's speech, I can tell everyone is still gearing up to protest. So I am the one who walks out with no weapons in front of their riot to make them stop.

"She's right."

Erika and Cam are staring at me, mouths gaping open. They knew I had wanted to know the most. But maybe there's a reason why I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm not supposed to know.

"But, Ellie," Tyler interrupts, before Jake stops him.

"You're right, Ellie," Jake says, his eyes staring into mine. "There's no need to taste something bad twice."

I immediately get what he's trying to say. I swallow hard. Too many times had I tasted the same, hated taste in my dreams.

With his words, everyone seems to give up, wallowing in defeat. We all stand up to leave, Tyler muttering to himself, "The most awesomest mission ever and we totally lose it," with Erika grinning at his words and punching him (lightly) in the side. He glares at her, before an ensuing tag war starts between them.

"Ellie."

I turn back, facing Liz. She tries to smile at me, and that only makes me feel worse.

"I want to talk to you for a bit."

"Cam, go on ahead, will you? Tell Erika and Tyler to knock it off, too, okay?"

She nods, and walks out of the library with Aiden after her. Jake pauses for a moment, before smiling to me and leaving as well.

Liz turns to Bex and Macey, who both nod briefly and leave as well. Giving us some sister alone time.

"Ellie," Liz starts, but I don't let her finish. In a moment, I've crossed the space between us and crushed her in a hug.

She stiffens for a second, before relaxing and leaning into my frame, sobbing. I hear the quiet tears she's been trying to keep in and hug her tighter.

"It's okay, Liz," I whisper, feeling my own eyes water with utmost timing. "I'm still here. I'm alive. I'm with you."

We stay in the library for a while, until Liz has finally finished her well of tears and is content with the sniffles for a while.

"Ellie?" she asks, like a little baby, and I smile at the meekness of her voice.

"Yeah, Liz?"

She takes a breath, pausing a bit before saying; "Everything's been a mess recently, hasn't it? I'm so sorry I haven't been a good sister to you this year."

I suck in some air. Before I could help it, my arms are around her again. "You are the best sister in the world, Elizabeth Sutton. So shut your mouth and let me hug you."

Liz laughs at that, and my heart rises a little with that sound.

"You know, Ellie," she says, "I think we should tell Mom and Dad."

I pause. "About what?"

This time, she's staring at me, her gaze concentrated on me. There's no meekness in her now. "About everything. The Circle, you being targeted, everything. They have a right to know."

I mull over this in my mind. But before I could arrange a consensus, she smiles slightly.

"Think it over, all right? We've got loads of time."

I nod, and she leaves before me, her steps wobbly at first, but finally taking root as she reaches the door.

I hear some talking as the door closes, and realize that Bex and Macey must've been waiting for her.

But as I lean into the cushions of the comfy loveseat I'm sitting in, the door opens again. Thinking it to be Liz, who must've forgotten something, I snuggle down deep and don't try to see who it is.

The seat next to me goes down as someone sits next to me, my head practically in the person's lap.

I look up, expecting Liz.

But the eyes I meet are of Jake's.

I blink, trying to organize the image in my mind. The speed of the reactions quicken for a second, and I blush and gasp at the same time.

"Jake!" I try to push myself off from his lap, but end up falling close to him.

He snorts at this.

With his snort, I feel my awkwardness floating away and glare at him for daring to snort at me. In return, his fingers are finding their way into my hair, and I close my eyes, relaxing.

We stay like that for a moment, before I say, "I don't."

He stops his fingers for a moment, and I regret speaking. But as quickly as ever, he resumes brushing through my hair, looking baffled.  
>"Don't what?"<p>

I smile. "I don't regret coming to Gallagher. If I didn't, I wouldn't have met Erika or Cam or Tyler or Aiden or Bex or Macey or the spy side of Liz or you, Jake." I rush this last name out, nervous.

He stiffens, and I think I see a faint mantle of blushing before he relaxes again and smiles gently at me.  
>I blush.<p>

We're frozen in a moment where the both of us are staring into each other's eyes, seeing into them our reflection and what we see of each other. I take a breath, breathless as my eyes see what he must see of me.

A girl.

He leans in closer, and I swear my heart is beating too fast for its own good.

Positioning his mouth next to my ear, he whispers words that send goose bumps flying up my neck.

"I don't regret it either, now that I've met you."


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**

**Nana: But you didn't have to cut me off~ Make it out like it never happened and we were nothing~ But I don't even need your-**

**Oh okay. Bad singing. Uh huh, I'll stop now. **

**-emo corner- *CRIES I'M SORRY MY VOICE CRACKS* **

**Erika: hey, kids! don't buy cheese! jk I HAVE NO IDEA IM SO AWKWARD!**

**Nana: I think we're drunk today. Like, totally. I swear we're not usually this weird. ^^ AND INSIDE JOKE SO DON'T JUDGE (hugs to those who get it)**

**Anyways, have an awesome time reading and maybe reviewing! Love you guys! **

* * *

><p>Tiptoeing back to my dorm in the dim hallway light, I pray that Erika and Cam have gone to sleep already. The thought of an interrogation is enough to make me sleep outside. I pressed my ears to the wooden door, listening.<p>

Nothing.

I turn the handle quietly and tread silently across the floor in the dark. My eyes haven't been accustomed to the dark yet. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grab me around the middle and another hand clamp on my mouth, muffling my gasp.

I'm dropped on my bed as the lights are flicked on. Erika stands over me with her hands on her hips, with a dangerous expression on her face.

"Something you want to tell us, Ellie?" Erika asks in a faux innocent voice.

I see Cam behind Erika's shoulders with an apologetic smile on her face.

"No, not really." I smile back.

The cheerful grin drops of Erika's face. "Okay, you can do this the easy way or the hard way Ellie. What's it going to be?"

"No way?" I answer meekly.

"Ellie, why did you come back so late? It's been almost forty five minutes since Cam and I left. Did.. something happen between you two?"

"No, no! Nothing happened. We just talked! I swear. God, guys, we're only in seventh grade!" I rolled my eyes.

Erika cocked her head in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing. Happened. Between. Jake. And. I. Where'd you'd even get that idea?" I said, exasperated.

Cam's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. Erika raised her eyebrows.

"_What? Jake..?"_

_Oh. Snap._

"I .. I thought you were with Liz." Erika stammered.

"Um. yeah. I was.. then..." I stuttered.

"Then he came into the library again." She finished for me, grinning slowly.

"Yeah."

Cam turned her head, biting her lip to hide her smile.

"It's okay to like him you know." Erika says.

"I know," I say, blushing madly. I leaned back onto my bed, hugging the strawberry plushie to my chest like a life support.

"What did you guys talk about?" she asked, grinning.

"Well..." I trailed off, my eyes burning holes into the floor. Cam jumped onto my bed, with her own little hedgehog plushie. "It all started after Liz left the library..."

* * *

><p>"Oh my god. That is so freaking-"<p>

"I know right?"

"But do you think-"

"I don't know about it-"

"Me neither."

We lapsed into silence, Cam smiling at our conversation.

"I'm happy for you, Ellie," Erika says, smiling at me. Cam's eyes mirror her meaning.

"So," I say, abruptly changing the topic, "what's with Tyler, Erika? You guys were practically chasing each other down, weren't you?"

It was her who blushed, this time, as Cam rolled her eyes.

Erika plugged her ears, tuning out our voices. "La, la, la! I can't hear you!"

I shared a grin with Cam who was sliding under her covers.

* * *

><p>"Erika~" I stretched out her name, my voice reminding me why exactly I hadn't tried out for choir.<p>

Taking all possible lobbying objects around me, I began to hurl them across the room to Erika's bed; my aiming was getting better, now I could hit her anytime I wanted from the warmth of my blankets.

First went my cat blanket, rolled into a ball for easy throwing. It hit Erika's face spot on.

I giggled.

She groaned at this, and lamely threw it back. It landed a foot away from her.

"Ellie, it's Monday morning, it's bright, I want to go back to sleep."

"It is Monday morning," I agreed, smiling largely. "And if my memory serves me right, today's breakfast is Belgian waffles, Erika."

I waited 30 seconds before considering to throw something else, but Erika didn't disappoint me as usual.

Rising from her bed like the dead, she glared daggers at me and I smiled back.

"I hate you," she muttered, dragging herself to the bathroom where Cam was just walking out of, with perfect timing.

"I love you too," I sang loudly, getting a laugh from Cam.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god."<p>

Tyler looked up, his face full of cream. "Is that all of the waffles?" Erika gaped.

He swallowed, before smirking at her. "Maybe," he replied.

She growled at him. "No one steals Erika Hart's Belgian waffles."

By the time everyone else had gotten breakfast and had sat down, Tyler looked somewhat quieter, glaring at his much smaller plate of waffles. Erika smirked.

"I am so going to get you back, Hart," he narrowed his eyes.

Erika smirked. "I'd like to see you try."

With Erika and Tyler fighting over waffles, I was managing to avoid contact with Jake (staring at my delicious waffles does help), which was pretty hard because he was sitting directly across from me on our table. (Which Erika tried to convince me was a coincidence.)

"Hey, Ellie," A voice says behind me. I see Aiden smiling down at me. He slides onto the bench between Cam and I.

I looked up, and surprised, and smiled. "Oh, hi Aiden!" Okay, maybe that sounded too enthusiastic. Cam, the ever observant one, raised her eyebrow at me, halfsmiling behind Aiden's back. I bit my lip.

But he didn't seem to care, or notice. "Like your breakfast this morning?" he asked, nudging me.

"Of course. It's the only way I can get Erika out of bed without torture tactics," I joke.

His laugh is the contagious kind, the one where everyone joins in. Soon, everyone on our table is laughing besides Erika who is too busy devouring her waffles to notice.

"Ellie- what's our first class?" Erika asks, with her mouth partly full.

I roll my eyes. "Erika- our grade isn't _that _big. Everyone in seventh grade has the same schedule."

"Culture, I think." Aiden says.

"_Thank_ you, Aiden." Erika says, throwing a scowl in my direction.

I grin back at her.

Tyler and Jake both chorus their disgust.

"I _hate_ culture class!" Tyler declares.

"Me too!" Jake says.

"But at least Madame Dabney likes you!"

"That's true." Jake grins.

"Not fair." Tyler pouts.

"I thought you'd like culture class, Tyler. After all, _she's_-"

"Shut up! God, I wouldn't be talking Jake. I can tell-"

"You wouldn't"

"I would." Tyler grins.

The whole banter leaves me confused and dizzy. This must be what Camellia feels like during my conversations with Erika. I felt a sudden rush of sympathy for her.  
>I can tell Erika and Cam are as confused as I was. We are learning five languages at once this year, but unfortunately boy talk isn't one of them.<p>

Aiden just shoots me a secretive smile. He's obviously in on it.

"Okay then..." Erika trails off.

She grabs my arm and Cam's and drags us down the winding hallway towards class.

"What was that about?" She asks, once we were out of earshot.

"Beats me." I say. I'd rather not know.

Cam just shrugs.

Walking towards the doorway, I see a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. I stop abruptly, causing Cam to crash into me.

"Sorry," I say as I walk towards the white. It's a piece of paper lodged in a crack by the stained glass window. Exact to my eye level.

"Guys," I whisper, tugging the paper out.

"What's that?" Erika asks.

I open the paper and read:

_Lily-_  
><em>Meet me at the same place asap. We've got answers.<em>

"It must be Bex and Liz and Macey." Erika says. "But how long has that been there?"

"Not long," I say. "Or else they would've put it into our room. Let's go guys." I spin in the direction of the library.

Erika catches my arm. "But what about the guys? We should go find them."

"Guys, we don't have time. Class starts right about-"

"Now, Miss Sutton. Please take a seat inside the classroom. Class is about to start." Madame Dabney calls from the doorway with impeccable timing, per usual.

Hanging our heads and dragging our feet into the classroom, we pass the boys who are already seated, giving us questioning looks.

I catch Aiden's eye and mouth "later".

He nods, and leans over the carry the message over to Jake and Tyler, who are sitting next to him. They both nod, but Jake's expression has 'irritated' written all over it.

What's his problem?

I take a seat next to Erika and Cam, as usual, and stare straight at Madame Dabney's lecture. No need to get in trouble twice today. Halfway through the lecture about the waltz, I feel Cam's elbow in my ribs. She motions her head towards Jake, who is staring directly at me.

He mouths something unintelligible.

"What?" I mouth.

When he does the same thing, I realize how important lip reading is, and if we're going to cover it in CoveOps soon.

"Huh?" I try again.

So engrossed in our conversation, I didn't realize Madame Dabney had stopped her lecture to ask, "Mr. Adams, Miss Sutton, anything you would like to share with the class?"

"I like your hair!" I blurted out, and promptly regretted my words. Apparently today was the day Madame Dabney had killed her curls during the night, the next day's hair was hidden with a scarf that no one tried to state was out of dress code.

She raised her eyebrows with the professional skill that one has when they could lift only one eyebrow at a time, and said, "Thank you, Ms. Sutton. Come see me after class, please."

I could virtually hear Jake relax with a sigh, and she pinpointed him with a look and said, "You too, Mr. Adams."

I smirked at him, and he glared at me.

After class, Erika and Cam lingered but I shooed them off with a look, reminding them of the paper we found in the morning. Tyler and Aiden also went, Tyler with great gusto and Aiden somewhat reluctantly.

Madame Dabney beckoned to us with a curled finger, and I moved my feet towards her.

"So," she said, clicking her manicured nail, "what year was the Taiping Rebellion?"

I stared at her, dumbstruck. Taking a glance at Jake, who looked equally stupefied, I was glad I was in good company.

After a moment of silence, she sighed and glared at us. "Detention, both of you. When would it be most inconvenient?"

"Today," I said, the hastily added, "ma'am."

Jake shot me a look for some reason, and in an instant, I knew why.

"Perfect. Detention for today, after dinner."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off with a, "During dinner would also be fine, Ms. Sutton."

She sends us out of the classroom without another word.

Once she was out of earshot, I groan.

"Great! You got us in trouble _again._ What's new?" I glare at him.

"What? What were _you_ thinking? 'Today'?" He retorts, "How could you not see that coming? Some spy you are."

That stung.

He sighed impatiently. "Hey, wait Ellie. I didn't mean that-"

I give him a death glare and stalk in the direction of the library, where undoubtedly the rest were. I don't even tell him why, I'm just so angry.

My stomach growl in protest. _Why does it have to be during lunch?_ I scream mentally.

"Hey, Wait. Where are you going?" He grabs my wrist, forcing me to face him.

"The library." I spit the words through my teeth, and yank my wrist from his grip.

I storm through the library doors, to the back where they were all sitting with Jake close on my heels.

Everyone was laughing at a joke Bex made, but their smiles froze on their faces when they saw Jake and me, with identical storm clouds on our faces. Aiden jumps up out of his seat and offers it to me with a concerned look on his face. I offer a tight smile and a thanks and turn to Liz.

"So what's up?" I ask.

"This." Macey answers holding a small flash drive, a smug smile on her face.

"What's that?" Erika asks.

Liz jimmys it into her laptop and presses full screen.

"We found it in the office." she explains.

It loads to a black and white overhead shot of the kitchen in the diner.

It's unnerving to see what happened from the outsider's point of view. I see the identical shock on our faces, and my fall, and Jake's valiant attempt to save me, all captured in this screen. He takes numerous beatings, and I wince every time he gets hit. I gather the courage to look him in the eye, but he's already looking at me.

Liz reaches over to hug me tight.

We watch the whole video up to when the woman drags us out the back door. Could this all have happened in ten minutes? Ten minutes for my life to be changed forever, ten minutes I wished had never happened.

I look at the different expressions after the video. Tyler and Erika have an awestruck and horrified expression, like killer My Little Ponies or something. Aiden and Cam both have concerned, shocked expressions. Bex and Macey look look indifferent, they've probably seen worse. Liz, on the other hand, looks like she's going to throw up.

Macey, of course, is the first to break the silence. "This is good, right?" she says, "We have a lead now. Liz can do her techy-facial recognition stuff and then we can match a name to the face."

Liz nods distantly, "I can do that."

And just when we thought the only person in this library was the librarian, out of earshot, we were wrong.

We all jump when we hear a voice from the nearby bookshelf say, _"Need any help?"_


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys :) cheers to another chapter up! We love your reviews (they taste like malasadas ;) so keep it up! As always, PM us for anything! **

**-Nana**

And stepping into view is none other than Zach Goode. Despite his slightly haggard look, he puts on a poker face, as if Zach Goode could but suave.  
>Macey, Bex, and Liz share an identical expression of shock, their mouths gaping. Bex snapped out of it and leaps out of her seat, landing in front of him with a murderous expression.<p>

"_Where were you_?"

He smiles slightly, "Places."

"No shift, Goode." She hissed. (Except she didn't say shift)

"It's classified."

They stare down for a minute before Bex whispers, "Fine. But let me just tell you one thing. How is what you did much different from what Cam did?"

His expression hardens. "I was looking for her."

"We all were. But we didn't have to vanish without a trace, Zach. You're not the only person who cared about her."

"I know, I know." He whispers tiredly.

"Do you?" Bex whispers under her breath.

He pretends not to her and takes in the sight of our little meeting.

"Hey Mace, Hi Lizzie." He hugs them each in turn.

"Ellie, Jake." He nods at us, "And..."

"Tyler, Aiden, Erika, and Cam" Liz fills in, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Cam," he repeats, whispering.

"Camellia." Macey says gently.

He shook his head clear. "Right. So what's up?"

"Ellie and Jake got kidnapped by this woman and Ellie got shot trying to save Jake. The woman got away and now we're trying to find out whom she is and where she is. We broke into the headmistress's office and found a surveillance video from the diner in Roseville." Macey says in one rushed breath.

I expect his face to have the same cool mask that Bex and Macey wore, since they're all experiences field operatives, but as soon as Macey finished, his face turned pale and he looked equal parts scared, relieved, and angry.

"Let me see the video." He says faintly.

Liz silently replays the video, but trains her eyes everywhere but the screen.

Every minute the video plays, the more life escapes from Zach's eyes. When the video ends, he buries his head in his hands and mumbles to himself.

"Why? I thought... Cammie. Roseville? _Why?_"

"What do you mean?" Macey asks.

He swallows. "That woman... is my mother." He whispers.

(Assuming that Bex, Liz, and Macey know who Zach's mom is, but have never met or seen her.)

* * *

><p>Everyone is stricken.<p>

Bex gets up and gently leads Zach towards the door.

"C'mon, Zach." She says soothingly. "Let's go tell Mrs. Morgan you're here. I'm sure she can make arrangements. It's about time you stayed in school."

Once they're out of eyesight, Tyler blurts "His mother? But Zach is so cool!"

Liz gives him a sharp look, and says very slowly, "She may be Zach's biological mother, but I don't think she's really Zach's mother. He doesn't want anything to do with her, after all she's done."

Macey gives us the rundown of the last two years, starting with her father's campaign attack and ending with the reason Cammie really left.

The seventh graders sit in uncomfortable silence.

"Well, I think that's pretty messed up." Tyler declares. "What does she even want, anyway? I mean, what does Cammie have to do with Ellie and Jake?"

Macey sighs. "We don't know, all right? Besides, the fact that she was going to kill you guys is confusing, too. And something tells me that since she failed, she's not going to give up."

She rubs her temples and groans. "God, I need a Tylenol."

She waves us off with a perfectly manicured hand. "Meeting adjourned. Let's talk about this later."

Everyone leaves quickly, hoping to get a little lunch before our next class. I linger, waiting for Liz to pack up her sacred laptop.

"Liz?" I ask.

"Yeah, Ellie?"

"I was thinking about what you said, and I don't think we should tell mom and dad yet." I say somewhat reluctantly.

She nods, unsurprised. "Why?"

"Well, watching the video today- It killed me to see it. And I know it was hurting you too, even though you've been a spy for a long time. How do you think they could handle it?" I say quietly.

She looks at me with wise eyes. "You're right, Ellie. But we might have to tell them sometime."

I squeeze my eyes shut. "Let's just hope it isn't soon."

She plops down tiredly on the sofa next to me. "I hear you."

Suddenly, she turns to me and smiles sadly.

"What?" I ask.

"You know about this whole thing with mom and dad? It reminds me of you and me when you first wanted to come to Gallagher." She rolls her eyes, "God, you're so stubborn."

I laugh weakly. "I don't know how you do it Liz. First Cammie Morgan, then me, and keeping our parents in the dark- it's so much stress." I turn to her with a small smile. "You know, you're kind of amazing, Liz Sutton."

She laughs, the first I've heard from her in a while, even if it's a little tired. "Thanks Ellie. How do _you_do it? Getting kidnapped, taking the bullet, all when you're still in middle school. You know," she bumps my shoulder with hers, "you're also pretty amazing."

* * *

><p>"Oh, Ellie," Erika said sympathetically, patting me on my shoulder while stuffing her mouth with a forkful of blueberry cheesecake (courtesy of the head chef). "It won't be that bad, I swear. Detention is just for an hour or two, anyways."<p>

I tried smiling to appease her, but failed and pitifully glared into my glass of water.

"Thanks," I managed, before killing my stomach with three and counting plates of dessert.

* * *

><p>I was alone; walking to Madame Dabney's room in the dark was a new experience. The lights on the walls only added to the gloom and doom, and dampened my mood further.<p>

"Ellie."

Okay, walking in the dark alone in a corridor was hard enough. Having a hand grab your shoulder and jerk you back and whisper your name was horrible.

"Oh my god!" I screamed, my voice bouncing off from the walls around me.

It echoed out for a moment, before a tentative voice asked, "Are you all right?"

I recognized the voice this time; it was Aiden, his face featuring a portion surprise, a portion hesitant to want to approach a possibly hysterical girl.

I took a deep breath, before smiling tiredly and replying, "I'm fine, thank you."

He looked relieved as he loosened his grip on my shoulder and instead, patted me reassuringly on my back. "I'm really sorry I scared you, Ellie. I was just trying to get your attention, is all."

"There's no problem at all," I said, as I started walking again, him following me.

I turned around and gave him a "are you stalking me?" questioning look.

His eyes widened, and he rushed to explain, "Don't worry, I'm not creepily following you or anything." He laughed, "It's just... I don't know. Ever since you guys got kidnapped I get this feeling like it's the last time I'll ever see you guys again." He smiles wryly. "Crazy, right?"

I smile warmly. "Don't worry, if it is, then that makes the two of us. I know exactly how you feel."

We walk towards the wing with all the classrooms in it, and I match my stride with his.

We reach the hallway of Madame Dabney's room. "Wait," I say. "We have seven minutes. I don't want to go there before I have to." I give him a pleading look.

He laughs again. "I'm willing to bet that you've never gotten detention before."

I smile. "That obvious?" He nods, smiling also. "What about you?" I ask.

He laughs aloud. "Are you kidding me? How could I not when I hang around a couple of knuckleheads like Tyler and Jake?"

"Is detention bad at Blackthorne?" I ask, hoping to get some insight about the mysterious school. Blackthorne was more secretive than Gallagher, and we _were_ a spy school. That's saying a lot.

His grin fades, and he nods ruefully, "Brutal."

"I'm sorry," I say, but I'm not really sure why.

The day's events suddenly leave me tired, literally almost dead on my feet. My heels are killing me and every blink gets longer. I'm tempted to sit down on the floor, but since I can't even see it, I'm not willing to risk sitting on top of what's possibly on it.

I lean against the wall, back pressed against it, mirroring Aiden. I slowly nod off, each time my head dropping and bending the heck out of my neck. Eventually I get irritated of it, rubbing the dull ache at the back of my neck.

"Don't move, please." I whisper, resting my head lightly on his shoulder. "Do you mind?" I ask quietly.

"No," He whispers back quietly, but my head is near his mouth so I catch it just barely.

"Thanks." I say, tiredly. What I wouldn't give for a nap on my bed right now.

I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I awake to the sound of beeping coming from Aiden's watch. I try to move, but something's restraining me.

It's one of his arms circled around my waist, supporting me. I sway slightly, as gravity hits me. He catches me and holds me in place.

He notices me awake and blushes slightly. "Sorry, you were falling. It's amazing how you can fall asleep standing up."

Ah, Aiden's wonderful ability to make an awkward positions comfortable.

"Yeah," I smirk slightly, "It's a talent. Was...that your watch just now?"

"Yeah. I set it so you wouldn't be late or something." He explains.

I smile gratefully. "Thanks, Aiden." Could I ever stop owing him?

A shifting noise and the sound of footsteps comes from the dark end of the hallway. My head snaps up to find Jake standing there, staring at Aiden and I. His face is emotionless, and his body stands straight and still like a statue. I feel heat rise to my cheeks and jump slightly away from Aiden. I realize how close we are, and what me might look like to him. I can't but think that there's hurt in his eyes.

_Wait_, I wanted to tell him,_ It's not what it looks like._

_But why should I? _The other part in my brain challenged. _Let him think what he wants_.

Amidst my internal debate, Jake turns and walks through the doorway quickly, not giving me a chance to explain.

Aiden's expression is stunned, and he stammers a little. "Do- Do you think that he thinks that...?" He trails off.

"We're together?" I finished, "Maybe." I whisper.

I bite my lip. "I better go. Don't want to be late." I say, making my way towards her door.

"Okay. See you later, Ellie." He smiles, and walks in the direction of his dorm.

"Bye." I whisper looking at his retreating back, but it's too far from him to hear.

I sprint through her door, just in time.

* * *

><p>"Miss Sutton," Madame Dabney says, slightly coldly, "so nice of you to join us."<p>

"I'm sorry." I say, though I don't really think I am. I say it just to please her. I really don't need another detention. And besides, I wasn't even late. Why was I in trouble?

"In the future please come to appointments promptly, like Mr. Adams here." Every word she says is clear, crisp, and punctuated. It hurts like a physical wound.

"Yes, ma'am." I say meekly.

"Good. Now you two will be polishing all the silverware and china for the lesson tomorrow." She says, and I feel my jaw drop.

"For two hours?" Jake says uncertainly. He obviously has not seen the massive amount of spoons and teacups in this room.

"But ma'am," I protested, "what if we don't finish?"

She raises an eyebrow and continues, as if she didn't hear me. "I'll see you two tomorrow, then."

The door swung shut behind her, and we sat there for a moment, dumbstruck.

"Well, let's get started," I sighed, picking up a fork. There was no response to this, at which point I turned towards Jake and stared at him.

He studiously avoided having eye contact with me as his hands moved quickly, and something in me snapped.

"Are you ignoring me?" I asked, my voice louder and sharper than before.

The only reaction to this was for him to pick up a third fork to polish, dropping the second fork into the finished pile.

I ground my teeth. "Look, I don't know what you're problem is-"

"Exactly." Now he turned towards me, his eyes boring into mine. They were so intense; for a moment, I'd wished for the avoidance of eye contact instead.

"Exactly what?" I demanded, confused.

Now he laughed, which pissed me off even more. "See? You're so blind about everything, Ellie."

That stung, almost like a physical slap.

I put the silverware I was polishing down and lengthened my stride so I stood right in front of him. I stare right into his green eyes, deadly serious.

"What do you mean?" I said quietly, angrily, "I mean, I won't know unless you tell me. I'm not a freaking mind reader, Jake."

"What I mean is," He says stepping a step closer, "you don't even see what's right in front of your face."

I felt heat rise up my cheeks in frustration.

"What?" I ask dumbly.

"You know what? Never mind." He says, as the anger drains of his face. He looks more defeated and meek.

And here I was, prepared for an awesome comeback. My eyes soften. "Jake, tell me what's bothering you," I insisted.

He trains his eyes on mine and closes more space, so there's less than a foot between our bodies. He stares at me for a moment before he gently wraps his arms around me, and rests his head on my shoulder. (Which might've been hard for him because he's at least 4 inches taller than me, I notice later.)

My heart aches a little. He looks so vulnerable, like a little boy. I tentatively pat his back.

"It doesn't matter now," he whispers, "I was being stupid. It wasn't your fault. I hate fighting with you, Ellie."

He pulls back just enough so he can see my face.

"Can you forgive me?" He says.

I cock my head, pretending to debate about it. His face falls a fraction.

I smirk and lightly punch his shoulder. "Duh. I hate fighting with you too, Jake. You always win." I pretend to pout.

He laughs a little, obviously relieved.

"Friends?" He asks.

I smile and nod. "Friends."

I turn around and go back to my discarded pile of utensils.

"Hurry up," I remind him, "as much as you're my friend Jake, I don't think I can stand another detention." I wink to tell him I'm joking, partially.

"Race you?" I grin, getting into my competitive nature.

"Like... who polishes the most?" Jake asks, incredulous.

"Mmhm." I say.

He shakes his head in amazement and rolls his eyes. "Only Gallagher girls."

I start to protest, but he cuts me off.

"Kidding. You're on." He grins.

"Prepare to lose!" I declare.

"Sure, sure."


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note:**

**Hi :) it's Erika today. Just wanted to say thanks for those who read and reviewed the last chapter! We always try to incorporate suggestions/ ideas. It helps a lot. & Sorry for the irregular posting- we're trying to figure out a day. We'll let you know when we decide!**

"Ready?" He asks.

"No! Not yet!," I polish two more cups, "Okay. Now we're even."

"But you know what would make it better?" I say, smiling craftily.

"If you lost?" He says bluntly.

I mock- glared at him. He had a way with words. "I was thinking we can make a bet."

"A bet?" He repeated.

"Yup. Say, If I win, you have to bow down to me when I enter the room for an entire week." I start to laugh, imagining the picture in my head.

"And if I win..." He trailed off smiling evilly, "you have to be my partner for CoveOps for the whole semester."

I shrugged. "Deal."

"On your mark.." He started.

"Get set..."

"GO!" We both yelled.

* * *

><p>I was way past my 40th teacup when I looked up at his progress. I smirked when I saw his pile, which was just short of mine. I became entranced watching his hands work. His long, deft fingers meticulously worked while being efficient at the same time. I suddenly wondered if he played the piano. There was a quiet grace to them- they seemed to work with a rhythm. No stumbling or dropping anything, like I often did. I envied him for a second.<p>

He felt my eyes on him and looked up.

"Problem, Sutton?" He asked cockily.

"Nope. No problem at all, Adams." I smile back.

"Good. 'Cause, you know, I'd hate it if you decided to forfeit. It would make things so much easier for me." He raised his eyebrow suggestively.

"Nope. Not a chance." I laughed, throwing my extra rag in his cocky face.

"Hey!" He yelled, but he was smiling at the same time. "Interference!"

* * *

><p>We both jump when we hear the doorknob turn and Madame Dabney enter. We were so engrossed our work that we didn't hear her footsteps. Sloppy for a spy.<p>

She smiles at us with praise. "Well, I think you've had enough for the day. And I don't think I need to see you tomorrow, either. Please remember the reason you are here today and make sure it does not happen again. Are we clear, Miss Sutton? Mr. Adams?"

"Yes ma'am." we chorus. We quickly speedwalk out of her door and into the dark hallway out of earshot.

"Eighty-eight!" He crows.

I feel my smile grow, and let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. "Eighty-_nine_." I said triumphantly.

His face falls. Then stares at me for a minute, his sly smile growing.

"What?" I ask, suddenly scared. I hated that smile.

"We tied."

"Um, Jake? I know you're not that bright, but last time I checked, eighty-nine was greater than eighty-eight." I say.

"I know that." He snapped, "But remember that cup you broke and we hid in the closet?"

He smiles, "You have eighty-eight, like me."

I shriek. _How. Could. I. Have. Missed. That?_

"Then who wins?" I demand.

"Both of us." He grins lazily.

I watch his retreating back head toward his dorm.

"See you later, _partner._" He calls over his shoulder.

* * *

><p>I bound up the stairs, taking two or three at a time. I'm propelled by a strange energy, that keeps me awake past the time I would've been sleeping without caffeine or addicting dramas. This foreign feeling, it spreads a numbing feeling across my chest, making me strangely excited for no reason.<p>

It makes me crazy and irrational, like swinging the dorm room door open without checking for any lights.

I plop facedown on my bed and scream into my pillow. Cam gently rolls me so I'm laying on my back. Concern is written all over her face.

Erika closes the door I flung open and sits on the end of my bed next to Cam.

"What are you guys doing up? It's like 12 A.M." I say. Having detention this late should be illegal. Lucky I did most of my homework before dinner.

Erika ignores my question. "What's wrong, Ellie? Was detention that bad? I mean, I know you and Jake weren't on the best terms, but he wasn't more of a jerk than he usually is, right?"

I give them a pitiful look and whimper, "Help. Me."

"Is it a big problem?" Erika asks, going full physiatrist mode.

I nod.

"Is it a big problem that might involve a boy?"

I nod.

"Is it a big problem that might involve multiple boys?"

I nod, and my eyes widen a lot.

"How did you _know_?" I said, shocked.

She laughs a little, despite her professional expression.

She rolls her eyes. "Ellie, a blind person can see the way Aiden and Jake look at you."

I'm frozen in a state of denial. "You're lying. They don't. They're my friends. They're just being nice." I say stubbornly.

She shrugs, sure that she is right.

I run through the memories of today in my head with this new information. Sure enough, everything clicks. The only thing that didn't make sense is why Jake got so angry.

I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing I didn't hear what Erika said. Things just got more complicated.

Erika notices my internal dilemma. "What's wrong, El? Something bothering you."

I take a deep breath grudgingly and tell them what happened because of Madame Dabney's detention.

Erika and Cam both share a secretive smile.

"Jeez, Ellie. You're just reeling them in, aren't you?" Erika says bluntly, and Cam rewards her with a burst of laughter.

I flush with embarrassment.

"No! I mean I can't help if... I mean, it's not like... I don't even know why... Gah. I don't know."

Wow, I had a way with words didn't I?

They both laugh. Erika asks the single question that's been haunting my mind. "The thing is, do you like any of them _back_?"

"I don't know." I whisper.

"I mean, they're both nice in their different ways, even if Jake is a jerk sometimes." She explains.

"But what does it all _mean_?" I ask, feeling like I was asking a wise guru some long-pondered question.

She smiles, as if she was expecting me to ask that. "Should I give you a thorough analysis via regular way or the SparkNotes?"

I smile gratefully. "SparkNotes, please." Cam chuckles, like she couldn't expect anything else.

"Well let's start with Aiden first. He's the good guy, and he's always been, since day one. He's a gentleman. But can anyone be that perfect?" She asks. "I don't know, but that's something that irritates me. There's gotta be something wrong with that guy. But, the whole watch thing was pretty thoughtful." She amends.

"And Jake, don't even get me started with that guy. He's got the whole troublemaker thing going on." She rolls her eyes. "He was annoying from the start, but for a reasonable reason, _I guess._ And he stayed instead of running away when you guys got compromised. And you took the bullet for him, so he must mean something to you."

Insert her sly grin here.

"And he's really the reason you got in detention in the first place. And then he started PMSing for no reason but you forgave him anyway." She goes on to continue, "I don't know Ellie, the scales are pretty balanced."

I raise an eyebrow. "Not helping." I tell her.

She sighs, "I know, I know. Ellie, it's not my fault that your life is like a drama program."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell me about it."

I felt Cam's soothing hand on my back, patting it sympathetically.

* * *

><p>"Finally, you guys are here," groaned Macey, flopping on a loveseat in feigned exhaustion.<p>

I rolled my eyes, smoothly closing the door behind me with my foot as Erika, Cam, Tyler, Aiden, and Jake quickly choose their seats from the collection of seating options.

"We would've been here earlier if we weren't almost caught," I replied, glancing at Liz who was furiously typing away on her computer, a faraway look in her eyes.

Tyler nodded, explaining, "Madame Dabney almost caught us. You know how she is." He rolled his eyes. "I have great respect towards you and Ellie, Jake. I don't think many life forms can go through the two hours' China Torture of Doom."

I laughed along with Jake, the detention was pretty terrible. But then again, Tyler was a drama queen, even worse than Macey sometimes.

Our laughing stopped abruptly when we saw a tall male figure walk towards us.

"I just checked the whole library for bugs," Zach explains, plopping on the couch next to Bex, "you're all welcome."

"Thanks, Zach!" we all chorus like school children with cheesy grins on our faces.

It takes all of his willpower not to laugh, but I see the corners of his mouth waver.

"Liz, whatcha up to?" Bex asks.

Liz is so absorbed in her screen that she doesn't register Bex's voice, or any of our for the matter.

"Liz?" Macey tries.

Bex grows impatient and snaps her fingers next to Liz's ear, "Liz!"

She's so startled that she nearly falls out of her seat. Her fair skin reddens as she sees all our our eyes on her.

"What? Er- did you say my name? Sorry!" Liz squeaked.

"I said, 'whatcha up to'?" Bex repeated smoothly, like nothing happened. Her voice wasn't reprimanding. She seemed worried.

Macey catches my expression and explains, "She's been like this since our last meeting. She's, like, obsessed."

Liz flushes. "No, I'm not! I'm just- concerned, is all."

I'm not surprised. "Driven" was practically Liz's middle name.

I tried to make my voice sound older and reassuring. "Liz, it's really sweet of you to do this, but get some sleep. As long as I'm in Gallagher, I'm safe."

I didn't actually know if this was 100% true, but even if it wasn't, if was worth it if I could change Liz back.

Macey gives me a "how do _you_ know?" look, and once Liz is facing the other direction, I shrug and mouth, "I don't know."

She smiles. "I figured. Suttons." she says under her breath.

Liz isn't completely convinced though. "But we need to find Cassandra Goode. The kidnapping was a one woman job, unlike her other attempts. And maybe," her voice dips into a this whisper, "we can find Cammie while we're at it."

"Liz, you can't help or save anyone if you're dead on your feet." I counter.

She puts her hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine Ellie. But it's not like I'm stopping." She warns.

I smile. "I didn't expect anything less."

We share a knowing, sisterly smile and I swear I hear the "Aww" background noise like in those cheesy movies. Turns out it was Tyler. Figures. Erika quickly aimed a slap to the back of his head.

"Is he always like this?" Zach asks abruptly, causing all of us to laugh.

"Yeah, pretty much. Unfortunately." Macey says, winking at Tyler's now pouting face.

Our laughter dies down quietly. In the meantime, the air screams abruptly, a large siren suddenly filling up the silence.

CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!

It scared the heck out of me, and the other seventh graders. We all had the deer-in-headlights fright in our eyes. If I were anywhere else, it would've been funny. But not here. Not now.

"What's happening!" I shouted at Liz over the blaring sirens.

"It means that there's a security breach." She explained, confirming my fears.

Bex had already herded Macey and Zach towards the door, probably towards Mrs. Morgan's office.

"Liz, we gotta go!" She screamed impatiently.

Liz pretended not to hear, latching on to my shoulders and staring in my eyes.

"Wait where are you going? What do we do?" Erika said frantically.

"Code Black means that nothing gets in, and nothing gets out." Liz said darkly. "We're going to see what's going on. You guys all stay together. Hear?" She barked out.

"Yeah." I squeaked out.

She gave me one last look before sprinting towards the door after Bex.

I see Jake try to leave through the door too, but I grab his wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" I yell.

"To find answers." He says plainly.

"Liz said to stay here." I say firmly. "Something could be out there."

He snorts. "Something? I don't know a single person who can stand on their own against about 70 Gallagher girls. Do _you_? Don't worry so much, Ellie."

He tried to shake my grip but I latch on even tighter.

"God, why can't you just stay put?" I shout, suddenly angry. "You're not doing yourself or anyone any favors." I pause. "What if it's _her_?"

"I highly doubt it; Zach's here. But if it is, all the more reason to. She hurt you once Ellie, I'm going to make sure she can't do it again." He looks into my eyes, and I can tell he means every word. We stare at each other for a minute, trying to plead with each other. A single echoing thought vibrated in my mind.

_What if its the last time you ever saw him? What are you going to then, huh?_ My mind challenged. I'd already thought he was dead once because of me. The very thought that it would happen again scared me out of my wits.

"Please, Jake. For me? Just stay and don't get yourself in trouble for once." I plead.

He stares for a long minute before sighing.

"Fine." he says reluctantly.

"_Thank _you." I breathe.

I feel a rush of relief in my chest and drag his to the farthest corner of the library, where Cam, Aiden, Tyler, and Erika were already hiding.

"So do we just stay here until the sirens stop?" Erika says, "Because if it's like the bomb threats at my old school, we're supposed to stay in the nearest enclosed space and be under the supervision of a teacher, and OMG! I already forgot how to get out of this school in case of emergency. Who knew this would actually happen, y'know? and I-"

Tyler cupped his hand on her mouth to keep her from continuing to ramble.

"Please," he groaned. "Just. Stop. Talking."

"Shh!" I hissed. "All I know is that Liz told me to stay put, and to stay together."

We crouch behind the shelves in tense silence, every blaring noise echoes in my chest. My heartbeat is thudding in my ears. I'm pretty sure Cam and Jake, who are sitting next to me, can hear it.

The sirens eventually stop with no signal, no nothing. It felt like they've been going on forever, but in fact the whole thing has only been minutes.

"Is it okay now?" Aiden whispers.

"I think so...?" Tyler says quietly, or as quietly as Tyler can speak.

After a pregnant pause, we all stand up to head for the door.

They say that a spy has a sixth sense. The instinct that keeps you from getting compromised, that keeps you alive. It's the little voice that says the man you just bumped into wasn't a stranger. That the woman you saw a few blocks ago? Yeah, she's right behind you. And now, the instinct inside of me told me something was wrong.

Every breath I took made me drowsy, and my senses dulled. _Strange_, I thought, _just a second ago I was jumpy from nerves_.

I turned to ask the others if they were feeling this too.

"Hey guys does anyone else-" I started.

Erika collapsed on the ground first, then Tyler who was helping her up.

My eyes bugged when I stared at Aiden and Cam and Jake. The only other time I felt like this... was when Cassandra Goode tried to drug me.

I gasped quickly, losing even more consciousness. I clapped my hand over my mouth and pointed to the air duct. That must be where it was coming from.

Cam collapsed next, realization in her eyes, but too late.

Then Aiden next to her.

My head started spinning as I grabbed Jake's wrist. I sprinted us toward the door, not even pausing to stop.

I took deep breaths of clear air, before I could speak. Refilling my lungs with clear air instead of the tainted drug laced one. My mind was still slightly foggy but I managed to pant out, "Drug. Are. You. Okay?"

He nodded tersely, just as out of breath as me. "You?"

"Yeah."

The walls were spinning and I couldn't get a sense of direction.

"What do we do?" he asked once we could converse normally, "Do we go back and get them? It seems like only the library is drugged."

I debated in my head. "No. As much as we'd like to, we'll just pass out next to them. It's a sleeping gas, anyway. Let's just go find out what this is all about."

He nodded. "You're right."

He took a deep breath and looked at me anxiously.

"What?" I asked.

"Ellie. You know that this wasn't an accident right? Whoever caused the code black probably caused the drugging in the library. Which means," He looked in my eyes, "that we were targeted. Again. Whoever did this knew we were in the library. They could know where we are right now."

I felt a shiver down my spine. I hated this feeling, like I was a cornered animal.

"What do we do?" I asked. The hallways were all deserted, no trace of Gallagher girls or movement. No yells or giggles. "Where is everybody?"

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air.

A scream, I realized, that sounded exactly like Liz's.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:**

**Anticipated chapter yay! (Haha not really but it needs all the love it can get) We've decided to post weekly chapters from now just because, well, our lives (and tumblr, for me) are making us procrastinate. But the chapters will be longer than before! Yay. And more Jellie moments 3 So you know the drill, right? Reviews are love, PMs are love too. And enjoy.**

**-Nana**

* * *

><p>I freeze into place, the scream petrified in my ear. I dared not to let one breath leave my lungs; afraid the sound will shatter everything.<p>

"Ellie?" Jake whispered, his hand hesitantly grasping my shoulder. I let him shake me slightly, before snapping out of my frozen state. "Are you okay?"

I shakily take a deep breath, calming my jumping nerves. "That was-"

He shushed me, placing a long index finger on my lips. "Don't say it. Come on, we have to keep on going."

I felt like a doll, being pulled by the strings that is Jake's hand, enclosed tightly around mine. My motions are jerky and rippled, forced into autopilot as my emotions took a nosedive into the depth of my mind. That scream was definitely Liz; too many times had I listened to it in my dreams, I knew it by heart for all that was good.

My hand tightened into its form around Jake's hand, and he glanced at me, a sliver of fear quickly flashing in his eyes, before his normal cocky smirk was back.

"Are we playing Gilly and Tracy again?" he teased, nudging me with his shoulder.

I smiled, my mind temporarily dismissing the earlier scary thoughts I had. "That was hilarious, Tracy," I said, drawing emphasis on his name.

He groaned. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

I paused, not answering that question. The fun, teasing atmosphere melted back into the tense situation from before, but somehow I felt better.

"Thank you," I whispered, swallowing hard. I felt my face flush as I kept my eyes furiously to the ground, not wanting to see his reaction.

"For what?" he asked lightly, his eyes trained ahead. "For being a beachball? If it's that, there's no need for thanks; I'm always like that."

I cracked a smile at that. "Thank you for being here for me," I whispered.

There was a long pause here, as if time had stopped for only the two of us. Slowly, I lifted my head, my eyes meeting his for the first time. I breathed, staring hard into his eyes. We were frozen in that one moment; our hands wrapped around each other as if it was grown into the mold, the tiny distance between us that I hadn't realized had shrunk.

His lips trembled, as I read them before the words reached my ears.

"You're welcome," he replied, his words so quiet in the dark, empty hall.

He slowly brought the distance between us to a hand's length away, his arm twining around mine. I licked my lips, my heart beating so loud in the small space.

I could hear his breathing, slow but with certain urgency, when I saw it.

I widened my eyes. In a second, the moment between us had crumbled into dust, the both of us into Operative Mode.

"What is it?" he asked, his eyes noting what I was doing.

I swallowed hard. Even if unconsciously, spies react to things based on instincts. Half of them you probably won't even notice. But I knew very well how Jake acts in a dangerous situation. His shoulders tense up, his breathing timed irregularly. I can read what situation we're in from him. In a way, so could he from what I do.

My thoughts stopped abruptly as my ears instinctively picked up a noise that sounded all too familiar from CoveOps.

Jake's hand clenched mine harder into a fist, and I bit my lip. He had noticed it before me, but from a different source.

I turned to where Jake was facing, my eyes narrowed as I tried to see what he saw in the dark.

My eyes widened; I scanned the figure standing away a couple of meters, my mind in the dark for a second as my eyes realized a second later.

"You're that girl..." I trailed off, recognizing her from my first day here at Gallagher. The girl that guided me through the halls back to the dorm.

She looked different, for sure. Rugged, with a desperate look in her eyes that spelled trouble. Not the laughing, carefree girl I had met early.

Jake shot me a look, rather dubiously. "You know her?" he asked.

I bit my lip. 'Know' was a bit too deep for our short acquaintance. "It's a long story," I said at last.

The girl smiled thinly, the only response to my words from earlier. She took a deep breath, and then raised her head to look at us, straight on.

In her hand, a flash of metal winked at us, and I gasped, nudging Jake.

He glared at her, his eyes concentrated on the weapon in her hands.

"You here to finish us off, sweetheart?"

"They are," she replied, positioning her right foot slightly behind her left, her body balance equal. Her hands shook, for a moment, before steadying into a relaxed, comfortable grip.

I gripped my fingers around Jake's tighter, as he glanced at me in surprise, before taking a step out from his shadow.

I could see he was about to argue, but I wasn't going to hide behind some boy to protect myself.

I am a Gallagher Girl, after all. And God knows no Gallagher Girl hides in the shadow of men.

"What do you mean, _they_?" I demanded, my voice echoing through the hall, my eyes glaring at her.

She laughed, saying, "If assassins were meant to talk, they wouldn't be hired. Or maybe they don't teach you that here?"

The word lodged itself into my head: assassin. Of course, she was here to put the end to us.

Jake spoke, his voice crackling, "You don't want to kill us."

She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowed, "And if that is true, how does that help you any?"

"You refer to the Circle as them; you don't consider yourself as one of them. The way you carry yourself: your stance, your weapon, everything screams that you're a trained operative."

He pauses for a moment, as the girl closes her eyes briefly, then opens them again and shrugs. There's something about her thin, lithe figure as it shrugs and folds into itself, that I can't help my words.

"Why are they doing this?" My voice cracks at the end into a whisper, but I'm sure she has heard me. "What do they want?" I sound desperate, choking back tears as I gasp out, "Why can't they leave us alone?"

Something in her eyes tells me she understands, but that glimmer of understanding is pushed away by resolve.

"Let me tell you one thing. The Circle may not be kind, it may not be good. But they keep their word."

I see light reflecting off the metal of her knives, and for the first time, I realize that the girl in front of me is serious. "Once I finish off everything in their way - which includes you two - they will keep their promise to me. They will."

I see the knives in her hands, her feet stalking towards me, but I can't move. Her words freeze me into place as I swallow hard and be happy in the fact that Liz isn't here with me.

The glint of the metal blinds my eyes, and I close them gratefully, but only after I hear the anguish of my name pulling me out of my stupor for a moment as I open my eyes to see Jake falling in front of me.

For a second, the girl looks stricken, almost afraid, as her eyes widened at the sight of the boy who saved me lying in a pool of blood.

But somehow the image burns through me. I feel my hands rounding into clenched fists, perfect for punching someone.

Sleekly, I pull out a side kick that catches the girl off guard and leaves her stumped against the wall, looking dazed. I run towards her, my breathing hard, the adrenaline running through me, as I register the sight of the deadly weapons that injured Jake in her hands, right back into stabbing position. But I don't stop.

I am ready for it when she swings her arm towards me, her knife slicing in an arc of air, missing me by a foot as I dodge it easily. We keep up a steady circle of dodging and missing, as I think; I'm going to die without a weapon.

I grit my teeth. Already, I've gotten cuts from near misses of her knives that bleed the metallic smell from my arms and my legs. She's slowly, but surely, getting the advantage here.

Anything can be a weapon, I say in my mind, internally scanning anything possible in our range.

There is nothing, however. Somehow we've been trapped in a hall that has absolutely no furnishings in them, and I wonder if this is a coincidence.

I can hear Jake groaning behind, and that grievous sound gives me an idea.

Surprising her, I go in for close combat, my arms suffering more cuts, but I don't care. With a swift, arcing kick that makes her scream in pain, I hear the clink of one of her knives hitting the ground.

She notices it at the same time I do. I can almost see the options weighing in her mind: to go for the knife or to fight her without one, and her with one.

I see in her eyes when she made her decision, and the smashing of the ornate window next to us makes it clear as she jumps out from the second floor of a building.

But that doesn't stop me from grabbing the knife that I had won from her, and in perfect aim, throwing it at her. It catches her in the left arm and I hear her groan.

But she continues on, running back to safety.

My eyes watch her trail for a couple of seconds, until she disappears into the woods.

* * *

><p>It isn't until Jake groans again, calling for me, that I remember that he's injured.<p>

He's done quite well for being alone with a knife injury, propping himself up against a wall and using something to staunch the bleeding. But the look of pain on his face is evident, and a wall of guilt rises up in me.

"Oh, Jake," I say, kneeling next to him and trying to inspect his wound.

He shakes his head, wincing, and I let him be for a while.

We sit next to each other, the wind coming in from the broken window and chilling us. I turn to look at Jake, only to see that he's already begun his inspection of me.

I let him, my eyes wandering also on him, until he clears his throat and says, "Are you alright, Ellie?"

Surprised, I let a small bubble of laughter work its way up my throat. "You're the one with the serious injury and you're asking me?"

He smiles wryly for a moment. "I saw what you did, a bit hazy, but I saw it still. You were amazing."

His eyes catch mine for a moment, and I wonder if we're going to do some intense staring contest when he drops his gaze.

I shrug. "It's what you would've done," I say.

I make myself pretend that it's just idle conversation, but my eyes already see that the bleeding isn't stopping. Jake's hand is desperately trying to block the sight from me, but it's too late.

"Jake-" I say, but get cut off by him.

He shakes his head again, saying, "We're in Code Black, Ellie. And besides, I doubt we even know where we are."

He's stating an honest fact. But I still manage to refute it.

"That may be true, but this is Gallagher, after all. I'm sure there's a first aid kid in every classroom here."

He opens his mouth to argue again but this time, I cut him off, teasingly saying, "And remember, it's me with two functioning arms that can punch the lights out of you."

With that, we start walking again, me shouldering Jake through the hall with occasional moans from him.

* * *

><p>We eventually settle in a dusty but usable classroom, me piling pillows together for Jake to lie down on.<p>

After rather comfortably settling down in our new flat for the moment, I smiled grimly for a moment. "It feels like those movies where it's a live or die situation and we have to go scavenging for cans of food and wood and everything."

Jake weakly laughed, wincing as his arm moved. "Do you want to go looking for food then?"

I stood up, stretching. Food wouldn't really be a problem, at least not that I know of. But some first aid would be nice for Jake and myself.

While I began searching the room, I speak, my back turned to Jake, "So what's our plan of action from now?"

My hands niftily find a rusty, old first aid kit and some blankets (adorned with cats and flowers).

"Well, we shouldn't really move that much," he replies, "especially me. We're not in a part of the school where we know well, after all."

I nod in agreement, walking back to his little corner with the things in my arms. "And with the Code Black still in effect, the defenses are tighter than normal. But your injuries..."

My words wander off, but he doesn't seem to notice. In fact, he brightens up with the blankets in my arms.

"I love cats," he murmurs, snuggling in one. "They're so soft and cuddly."

I stifle a small laugh. I shoot him a sidelong look and smirked. "Who knew the fierce, cocky Jake Adams loves adorable little kittens?"

He rolled his eyes with slight difficulty. "Kittens," He says sarcastically, "are adorable. For your information."

I laugh lightly, to prolong the obvious confrontation. But it still comes along, strutting its way down the runway.

"Jake," I say eventually, "you need to let me see the wound to wrap it up."

He grits his teeth and I can tell his breathing is slightly labored. He's holding up this charade for me. His green eyes stare long into mine.

"You don't need to," he says, "let me do it myself." He tries to grab the roll of bandages and disinfectant from my clutch that I had pried the rusty first aid kit for. He loses his balance and almost lands on his wounded arm.

I catch him by the good arm tightly just in time and ease him back in place.

"Jake," I scold, "You're not doing me any favors, so stop being so stubborn! You can't do it by yourself anyway- just show me it! I bet a gunshot wound is worse, anyway."

He grits his teeth, making his jaw angular and tense. I can tell the pain is getting to him.

"Fine." He says quietly, gently releasing the hand covering the wound. The hand releasing was sticky with blood, and I felt my head spin slightly. The cut was deep, deeper than I expected. I was entranced, watching the blood flowing slowly, dark and thick.

"Ellie," he groaned, startling me, "hurry up!"

"Right! Sorry!" I squeaked, snapping out of my trance. I didn't actually know if my gunshot wound was worse; I was out for most of it, and this cut looked pretty deep.

"Um, this might not be the right time to tell you this, but I don't know for sure what I'm doing." I say timidly, picking up the bottle of disinfectant.

"Wait," he said, gritting his teeth. "Water first, then disinfectant. You have to clean it out."

"Oh, right," I replied, scrambling for water. "Is there water around here?"

"Just hurry." He winces, his face twisted in pain. Wow, no sarcastic remark.

With remarkable coincidence, there actually was a bottle of unopened water lying in the room. I mentally hoped it wasn't too old, and walked back to Jake.

My sloppy cleaning managed the job, and I moved quickly ahead with the alcohol.

I quickly open the bottle and tipped it over the cut. "This might sting." I warn.

He nods, bracing himself for the impact. Once the liquid comes into contact with his skin, I could tell it burned. I've fallen enough times in my childhood to know what it felt like.

He inhales sharply and his entire body tenses up. "Ouch! Ow, ow, ow! " He breathed.

"I'm really sorry Jake. Does it hurt too much?" I whisper.

He nods, squeezing his eyes shut. "Worse than getting punched by Erika."

I smiled grimly, as I finished with the burning disinfectant and set it aside gently.

"Save some for yourself," Jake grimaces through the pain, "you got injured, didn't you?"

I shrug off his worry. "It's just a couple of scratches. Nothing much." My hands worked clumsily, wrapping his arm up in thick bandages.

His good arm grabbed my hand that was wrapping his wound, and fiercely replied, "Please, Ellie. I don't want you to get infected because of me."

I was about to retort that not everything in the world was about him, but instead changed my mind and smiled gently, "All right, Jake. I'll treat my wounds too, okay?"

He visibly relaxed as I finished off his bandage with a bow. Seeing this, Jake snorted and smiled.

"Nice wrapping."

I raised my eyebrow, and leaned against the wall next to him. "You're welcome, Jake."

He nudged me, saying, "Go and treat your wound now, Ellie."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes, Adams. I will go and treat my wounds now."

Wincing as the disinfectant hit my cuts, I finish up my wrapping much quicker than Jake's wound.

We sat together, side by side, silence filling the emptiness around us.

He broke the comfortable silence, turning to me slowly with a questioning look in his eyes.

"What?" I asked, uncomfortable with his stare.

"Nothing," he said, smiling ruefully, "It's just that now we're even, right?"

There was more than a thousands things he could be talking about.

"What are you mean?" I asked, curious.

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "You saved my life once before, Ellie. I'll owe you for the rest of my life. I promise."

"Jake-"

He cuts me off. "Please, Ellie. Let me do this."

I was convinced it was hallucination, or some freaky aftereffect of knife stabs or blood loss that made him say these words, but his eyes shined with emotion so real I couldn't have thought he was hallucinating.

"All right, Jake," I say just to please him as he smiles at me.

We share a smile together, until his mouth stretches in a yawn, and I laugh at how similar he looks to the sleepy cats sewn on the blanket.

"Sleepy, Adams?" I teased.

He elbows me with his good arm, grinning as he replies, "I'm going to sleep with these cat blankets, Sutton. Care to join me?"

I roll my eyes, and pull away a blanket from him, which ensues a quick tug of war.

"Goodnight, Jake," I whisper, as finally we snuggle together in the corner with our warm cat blankets.

"Goodnight, sleeping beauty." He laughs. Yup, definitely hallucinating.

I could feel the smile drop off my face, and annoyance take its place. I jerk my elbow swiftly into his uninjured side, effectively cutting off his laughter. Unfortunately, I noticed, not his smug smile.

"Way to ruin the moment Jake." I groaned, turning over. He chuckled to himself quietly.

"Night, Ells." he whispered.

My eyes started to sting, begging me to close them. I felt the day's events taking its toll on me, the momentary adrenaline gone. Curled up next to Jake, I felt protected and safe. I forgot about what happened today, if just momentarily. I forgot that we almost got killed. I forgot the knife cuts on my arms that would probably leave scars. I forgot that we have a possible assassin on our tail.

And before I knew it, I fell fast asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys! (It's Erika) Sorry for such irregular and late posting. We've both just been so busy lately! (And I know that's not an excuse .) Hope you enjoy the long-ish chapter! :)**

**Nana here! Omg so like, ditto what Erika said. End of the year projects and tests are killing us both. Anyways, hopefully we'll go back to regular posting now :) reviews are loved! And hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

><p>I awoke to the sound of the classroom door being roundhouse kicked so hard it flew back and slammed against the wall, the impact strong enough to slam it shut again.<p>

My eyes fluttered open, the slamming sound ringing in my ears. My heart was in my throat, and I was in full operative mode. I nudged Jake's head off my shoulder, which it seemed to find its way on me while we were asleep. I met Jake's eyes, and a look of understanding passed between us. We had maybe five seconds before that door opened again.

He sprinted towards the side of the door, and me on the other side mirroring him.

Whoever it was fumbled with twisting the old door open. I felt a sudden rush of sympathy for whoever it was. Their grand entrance was pretty pathetic.

The door swung open with a slight shower of rust from the old hinges. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw the figure of a tall man walk through the door the split second before my kick placed itself on the back of his kneecap, making him sprawl facedown out on the floor in front of me.

Jake had done the same with his other leg. It seemed that when we fought, we worked as a team. Two parts of a whole. I could guess what he was thinking, and him probably the same for me. Too bad it couldn't be like this when we weren't fighting together.

Jake took advantage of the man's surprise and flipped him on his back, facing us. My hand flew to my mouth.

"Jake? Ellie?" He said weakly, wincing. "Thank god."

My eyes felt wide enough to pop out of their sockets.

"_Mr. Moscowitz?_" I gasped.

Jake's face was the equal mix of horror and surprise that I'm sure mine's was.

"I'm so sorry sir!" He apologized, helping him up with his good arm.

I tried to explain. "I'm sorry, it's just that we t-thought... last night we were attacked... a-and..."

Mr. Moscowitz waved us off impatiently. "No worries. If I were someone else, that's exactly what you should've done! Very good work! Now if I were only a little more observant..." He hung his head slightly in shame. This probably happened a lot to him from the stories I hear from Bex and Macey. Don't get me wrong- I've seen Mr. Moskowitz in the lab and the man is lethal. Just not when it comes to combat.

Jake seemed to have a rush of sympathy too, because his lips lifted into a small, encouraging smile. "Nah, Mr. M. You were really good," he said. Not a lie, technically, if you're comparing him to civilians.

"Yeah!" I chimed, "That was some powerful kick you've got there." (Also not a lie)

I could tell he hung around spies too long and noticed our BS, but his shoulders lifted almost as if letting go of an invisible burden.

"Thanks, kids." He smiled, but slightly resignedly. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest.

_But I didn't even lie! _I argued with myself mentally, sighing. I was getting soft.

Mr. Moscowitz seemed to snap out of his trance, probably remembering why he'd burst in the classroom scaring the heck out of two students.

"Oh! Are you guys all right? Hurt or anything?" He gaped when he saw the bandages on our arms, especially Jake's whose was now blotchy with blood and in desperate need to be changed. I swear I saw the blood slowly drain out of his face. He started to stutter. "Oh-Oh gosh! Okay, um, put pressure on that, Jake. But be careful with it. I need to take you back to the hospital wing immediately! Tell me what happened when we get there."

* * *

><p>I felt butterflies in my stomach as I watched Jake being wheeled off; the mood was somehow like those movies that had a patient with a terminal illness sent off to the doctors who'll do their best, but the patient still dies in the end.<p>

Of course, Jake wasn't going to die. I had treated his injury perfectly fine, hadn't I? I bit my lip. Maybe I didn't wrap it right, or the disinfectant wasn't working.

My mind whirled with these thoughts, as someone - a nurse? -squeezed my hand with a serene smile, and mouthed, "It'll be fine, honey."

I smile back nervously, but her words don't do much to calm me down. She seems to realize this, because she lets go of my hand and walks away after another smile, no doubt getting her time efficiently spent on options other than a teenage girl who's hormone crazy.

The door opens, and I rush towards it, only to bump into Mr. Moscowitz hard.

"Ellie," he says, his hand on my shoulder, guiding me away from the door.

I begin to protest, trying to edge around him to at least see what was happening with Jake. "Mr. Moscowitz, please, I want to know what's happened with Jake-"

"I know, I know," he soothingly says, "but not at this moment. He's still resting, give it a week at least, okay?"

My eyes lower, and I can't control the tears that begin to stream out of my eyes. Maybe it's the realization that Jake's actually injured, and just not some thin cut, but something that needs weeks to heal. Maybe it'll eventually grow into a scar that'll never fade, and he'll have to carry it his entire life-

"Oh, um, do you-" he floundered around, probably unused to the situation of crying girls.

I shook my head, trying to stop the tears, but they kept on pouring out. I sat down on the hospital bench, Mr. Moscowitz by my side.

It's an awkward sight, mainly because Mr. Moskowitz never is, and never will be a guy that can comfort a crying girl. And I can't even stop my tears to save myself some embarrassment.

"Harvey?" The door opens again, but I don't want to go in now, even though it's rather selfish of me. I don't want to see the scar or the injury that he took for me. Some girls might find that cute or brave or whatever, but to me, it just makes me feel ashamed and sad, that someone else has to take a knife for me.

I lift my head, seeing an unfamiliar woman standing in the doorway. She reminds me of the headmistress; not just her looks but the way she holds herself, like a powerful woman who won't let a man lead her life. But she also looks a little broken, like the headmistress. Especially when she sees me with red eyes and all, and her lips purse for a moment.

"Oh, Abby," he begins, standing, and to be honest, looking a bit relieved. I can't blame him. There's nothing particularly refreshing about babysitting a crying teenager.

She nods at him, then her eyes zero onto me. I bite my lip, holding back some tears to appear stronger, at least, than some fragile girl down the street.

Then something unexpected happens. She comes closer, and I brace myself for something, anything that she might throw at me. But instead, as she stops a bit away from me, and her arms encircle around me like a comforting blanket, and gently enfolds me into her.

"You've been through such a hard time," she coos, doing a much better job than Mr. Moskowitz, who's just awkwardly standing in the corner. And when she does, it's not demeaning, or acknowledging the fact that I'm weak. No, when she says those words, it's as if she recognizes herself and her experiences in me, and letting me know that I'm not alone in my emotions.

It makes me cry even harder, into her shoulder and wetting the sleeve of her shirt. But she doesn't let go until I stop to a sniffling, hiccuping version of my tears. Instead, I think she holds me even closer, trying to keep me from breaking down into little pieces and spending the rest of my crazy life in an asylum somewhere in Switzerland.

* * *

><p>I don't exactly remember what happens next, except that when I wake up, I'm tucked in my bed securely, as if someone's afraid I'm tumble off on my bed and break my neck.<p>

I sit up, and then wish I hadn't, rubbing my neck as the pain of all of those collected bruises hit me like a whammy.

I'm not even sure what time it is (Gallagher Academy hasn't installed in me the automatic clock that Liz and the others have, yet) but no one's in our dorm room, which either means dinner or classes. Or maybe they're too afraid to share a room with a possibly crazy escapee of the Circle's assassins, who knows?

I lay there on the bed, rolling and creaking the bed as I try to stay as still as possible. My eyes can't really focus on anything; I let them simply examine my surroundings, even though I know them as well as anyone.

While my eyes are just staring off into the distance, my thoughts swirl in a multitude of colors and shapes. Pictures of everything that happened, of Jake, of me, of that girl.

I bury my head in my pillow. I wasn't going to break down and start crying again. I can at least do that, can't I?

Slowly, wincing, I turn on my bed, my back on the bed as I gaze at the ceiling, thinking.

My questions of that girl from the Circle came back to me, my desperate pleas to know answers. _Did Catherine Goode send her to kill us? And why us? What did we do? _My mind flashed back to a scene of a memory. What seemed like so long ago the assassin told me the Circle kept their promises. I was curious to know what the Circle was promising her. And what would happen now that they found out she had failed her mission. I shuddered. Nothing pleasant, at least.

Eventually I get tired of wallowing in self pity, and feel guilty for spending so much time doing nothing. I could be talking to Liz and Cam and Erika who I felt like I last saw lifetimes ago. I could break into the hospital records to see how Jake was doing. I could check security footage to try track where the girl went. (Though the last possibility was probably already done, I later thought.) I could do _something_. My nerves suddenly were jumpy, itching to move around despite slight pain. My growling stomach suddenly interrupted my train of thought. I checked the clock hanging on the wall, squinting in the now fading daylight. I sighed. _But dinner first_.

I entered timidly into a loud, bustling dining room. I felt a sudden rush of butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I scolded myself, a habit of many years. _There was no reason to be nervous_, I told myself_._ I stood on tiptoe and smiled as I spotted familiar heads of reddish-brown and gold hair. I headed in that direction with assertive steps, only in stop dead on my tracks. There were a few other people on that table that I couldn't see from afar. Sudden sadness washed over me. _Were they mad that Jake and I left them in the library? Did they get tired of being friends with the girl who always got into danger? _My miserable thoughts were slammed out of my head, almost literally, by the person behind me. Turning around to apologize, I meet the eyes of a very surprised Aiden.

"Ellie?" He asked, incredulous.

I stutter, unable to find words. So much for calm and collected, Ellie. "Ye-Yeah. Yeah, it is." It seemed like a year ago since the last time I saw him. After an awkward pause, he pulls me into a gentle hug.

His face creased with concern. "Are you okay? Hurt or anything?"

"I'm fine" I smile. I was, on the outside at least.

He seems to examine me for a second, his eyes wandering up and down, until I squirm uncomfortably.

"Done with the checkup, Aiden?" I tease, my clenched hands hidden behind my back. I hear the strain of the fear that they will leave me in my voice; that none of them will ever talk to me again. I shift my body balance to my left leg, leaning on it.

Aiden widens his eyes, flushing slightly. "Sorry, Ellie," he replied sheepishly, scratching his head. "Just wanted to make sure you're all right."

Warmth flooded through me, as I tearfully smiled at him and hug him, again, to his surprise.

"Um," he awkwardly pats me on my back, as I break into a sob. Something about the reassuring existence of Aiden lets me feel that even if I cry or fall or anything, he'll always be there to pull me to my feet.

"Ooh la la," sings someone behind us, "PDA much? Burning up on the dance floor, are we?"

I pulled away from Aiden's shoulder to see Erika sporting her signature teasing smirk. It's so familiar and comforting I wanted to cry. Okay, maybe I did a little. I hugged them each in turn, and Cam and, yes, even Tyler when they showed up.

"Wow, Ellie, didn't know you liked me that way." Tyler teased, smirking excessively. I jerked back and mock glared at him. "Cocky jerk." I punched him lightly in the arm. Behind me, Erika grinned and snorted. "You wish, Hale." We all laughed, and a bubbly feeling rose inside of me, and it felt good to not have a care in the world.

"We missed you, Ellie." Aiden said quietly. Cam nodded fervently.

"More than you know," Erika added.

I had a sudden rush of appreciation and gratitude. "I missed you guys too." I whispered.

"Oh no," Tyler groaned, "She's going to hug us again." And I did, just for Tyler's sake.

I froze, suddenly remembering something I needed to do.

"Where's Liz?" I asked sharply.

Cam's flawless face creased with confusion.

"Liz?" Tyler repeated, "She's right there." He pointed to the back of the cafeteria, where she was sitting with Macey, who was looking as gorgeous as ever.

I started running. "Be right back," I called over my shoulder. I didn't stop until I almost plowed down petite Liz, who was rising to throw her stuff away. She staggered, her expression so shocked it was comical. "Liz," I breathed as I hugged her.

"Ellie?" she gaped. She quickly disentangled herself from my grip and looked me up and down, checking for any bruises. Her gaze lingered on the faint scars from the cuts on my arms.

"What happened? Are you okay?" she demanded.

I sighed, exasperated. "Yeah, I'm okay." I said, for what seemed like the tenth time today.

"I heard what happened from Abby." she said, her blue eyes widening. "Oh, Ellie. No one that young should have to go through that. How's Jake doing? Have you seen him?"

Instantly, my eyes started watering a bit. "I don't know. He had to go to the nurse's and the last time I was there, they wouldn't let me see him. He got a bad knife cut in his arm and he lost a lot of blood. I tried to wrap it up for him, but I think I might've done it wrong. I mean, he was seemed fine until Mr. Moscowitz found us." I found myself ranting, my words slurred with tears. "Liz, what if he dies? Or what if he's crippled? It's going to be all my fault. If he didn't take the fall I would've died. I was so stupid!"

Liz automatically folds me into another comforting hug. "Shh, it's okay Ellie. Jake's going to be fine. Everyone makes mistakes." She whispered comforting things in my ear, while I felt the growing embarrassment of crying in public. A couple of Blackthorne upperclassmen stopped to stare.

"What?" Macey snapped at them, "Is there a problem? I didn't think so." I shoot her a grateful smile once they leave and say quietly, "Thanks, Macey."

She smiles back. "Anytime."

Cam and the others who must've caught up to me gently lead me out of the cafeteria and into the hall.

"Where are we going guys?" I asked curiously.

"The nurse's," Erika replies cryptically.

"Why?" I drag out the syllable.

Macey shrugs. "I heard Jake can have visitors."

I suddenly feel nervous although I wanted to see him. My palms start to sweat and my heartbeat quickens.

"Hey, where is Zach and Bex?" Tyler's question breaks into the stream of worries that are running through my head. I'm pretty sure Tyler worships Zach.

Liz snorts. Macey rolls her eyes. "Who knows? They're probably together somewhere." None of us seventh graders know what to say. Each of us have been in school long enough to know this was a dangerous topic. _What was going on there? Isn't Zach Cammie Morgan's boyfriend? And isn't Bex one of her best friends? _Somehow, everything always ends up dealing with the mysterious Chameleon. It's all connected; we just have to find out how. I make a mental note to ask Liz later.

We reach the hospital wing and I find the stern, grandmotherly nurse who had helped me before. "Hello," I say shyly. "We're looking for Jake Adams." Thinking about the last time I was here, I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment.

She studies my face for a moment. "Oh yes, you're the girlfriend. Right this way."

My jaw drops, but we all follow her obediently. Erika and Cam wink, earning them an eye roll from me. I tested a hand on my cheek, and it felt almost feverish. Well this was embarrassing.

We stop in front of a door with a piece of paper taped neatly on it with Jake's name. The nurse starts heading back in the direction we came. "If you need anything honey, I'll be right there." she says smiling. I smile and nod, using the polite expression I reserve for strangers.

Feeling weak kneed, I tap gently on the door. No response. "Jake?" Tyler calls. No response. Macey gets fed up and swings the door open, all of us trailing after her.

The room is a sterile, official white. Except for the open window letting a slight breeze through, the room was untouched. Even the sheets have been neatly folded. I don't understand. "Where is he?" Aiden voices my thoughts exactly. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's Liz, but she's wearing a sorrowful, sympathetic look that I hate instantly. I wash of dread suddenly comes over me. Adrenaline kicking in, I sprint out the door to find the nurse, my friends on my heels.

"Excuse me," I pant once I find her, "but his room was empty. Do you know where he might be?"

She raises an eyebrow for a second until recognition lights up her face. "Oh! I'm sorry! A few minutes before you arrived, he said he needed to step out to help a friend. I didn't want him to leave, but he said it was urgent. Does this help?"

"Yes," I manage to squeak out, "thanks." I turn behind to face my friends. Macey and Liz wear the same pained look. The seventh graders however, wear a hopeful look.

"If he left, we would've saw him in the hall. Maybe we missed him?" Erika asks. Cam's eyes are miles away, calculating the probability of that. "Should we check security footage? Or ask the headmistress?" Aiden asks.

"No." Macey commands.

"Yes! He's still here somewhere! If he's healthy enough to walk around we can find him! We can-" I get cut off my Macey, who speaks louder this time.

"No."

"What do you mean? Let's go find him!" I hear the pathetic desperation leaking into my voice. I look to Erika, Cam, Tyler, and Aiden for support, but they seem to finally understand what Macey is getting at. Erika and Cam's eyes fill with tears, and the guys look pained.

Liz speaks up this time, grabbing both my wrists and stares into my eyes. "Ellie," she speaks slowly, "I need you to understand. Jake's not at Gallagher." I shake my head, no understanding. Or maybe I don't want to understand.

"Where is he, then?" I scream, halfway beginning to cry.

"There was no sign of a struggle." Macey says, but I still don't want to admit it.

"So?"

"So it means, Ellie," Liz whispers, "he's gone."


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:**

**Cheers to another chapter posted! :) Thanks to all who've read and reviewed! Shout out to Luvslove, kgorange, gallaghergirlalltheway, stephaniek, and pianist707 who reviewed the last chapter!**

He's gone.

Somehow, the words just keep on echoing in my mind, like it's bouncing off the walls of my head.

And you know the basic procedure to stop words from bouncing in your head: scream and run in some direction, in any direction. Crying helps too, just because it muffs out the words a bit.

It did work, for a second or two, until someone catches me by the arm. I can tell it's trying to be gentle, the way it's slightly avoiding hard edges. But it still hurts.

It yanks me back, the momentum hurling me into the person. But the instant I hit the person full on, I push that person away from me. My arms are shaking, and it's not from the exertion. Contact with another human being, one that might run, just like Jake did, was frightening. Run and leave me alone because anyone that even knows me is in danger. Better to hide and stay away from the bait.

"Get away... Get away from me!" I scream. It's not one of those crazy screams I'm famous for. It's a scream that's supposed to enter people's ears and tell them to get away from the dangerous girl. Push them away before they push me away, into a pit.

"Ellie."

"Stop! Don't... don't say my name!"

I'm breaking down, into tiny little pieces on the hospital ward's floor. My knees are collapsing, I'm trembling all over with tears streaming down my face. Trying to keep me together, alive, I curl up, my arms around my knees.

Something else wraps around me, and it helps more than I do, keeping me together.

Aiden.

"Shh, Ellie," he whispers, rocking me back and forth. I can't help it. I lean into his embrace, sobbing harder. They may leave, they may hurt me, but I can never resist them. They'll just keep on breaking me into pieces forever.

* * *

><p>"How does this color look?"<p>

"It looks good."

Exasperated, she rolled her eyes. "That's what you said for the last three colors. I don't care if you diss them, just say something besides good!"

"They look fine," I shrug, my eyes straying from the colors to where my fingers are picking at a thread coming loose on the blanket. I try to restrain myself, knowing that in ten minutes, this blanket will be falling apart if I continue.

Because, after all, once you take out the support and the connections between things, everything simply falls apart, doesn't it?

"Okay, I'm going with this color," Erika said, picking up a bright, lime-like color. "You look amazing with green, after all."

I manage a tiny smile, purely to show Erika and Cam that I'm fine, perfectly fine, so let's just stop tiptoeing around me and just say the things on our minds out loud.

There's a pocket of silence as Erika is carefully painting my nails, while Cam is picking through the polishes, looking for a good color for herself.

"Hey, Ellie?" Erika asks, her head tilted down to see my nails, her eyes not meeting mine.

"Yeah?"

"I-"

She stops, abruptly, as a knock on the door shatters her remaining words. Cam hurriedly goes to the door, checking it first before opening it.

When she does open it, she quickly turns her head to look at me, for a moment, before slinking her way out of the room into the hallway, not letting both of us seeing who is it, outside.

The door crisply closes shut, and for some reason, Erika has a sigh of relief. I give her a pointed look, but don't comment.

"So what were you going to say?" I ask, slightly curious.

She shakes her head. "It's-"

"Something. Please, don't say that's it nothing," I plead, and I wonder what's going in my mind. The words are pouring out, before I can help it. "If you have something to tell me, tell me, right now, please. When you get the chance, don't let it go."

Erika regards this with her head slightly tilted, her eyes on mine now. She opens her mouth, and for a second, I think that maybe she's going to tell me whatever it is, but she changes her mind, and instead says, "You've changed, Ellie."

My breath of air is stuck in my throat, and for some reason, I can't seem to accept this fact with happiness. I have changed, I will admit that. But is it a change for the better? I remember how I was before everything happened; from the beginning, where Liz enrolled into the school. I miss those days.

Somehow, the pocket of air clears and I end up laughing, at first, a choking laugh but it changes into a clear, amused laugh. It doesn't sound happy, though. Just amused.

Erika looks surprised for a moment.

"I have, haven't I?" I ask, partly for myself. "I wonder where the old Ellie went."

* * *

><p>When I come out of our room to grab lunch in the dining room, I'm slammed into the wall by some unknown force. Promptly, I grab the offending arm around me, and flip it, judo-style.<p>

"Oh god, Ellie."

Horrified, I take a glance at who it is. "Tyler? What are you doing?"

He picked himself up gingerly, rubbing his arm with a crooked grin. "I could say the same to you, Ellie. Picked up some tricks, didn't you?"

A flash of this move implodes my mind; I don't know when or where it's from, but I was there to see it, maybe even experience.

I managed a quick smile, covering my thoughts. "Should I teach it to you later, Tyler?"

* * *

><p>"Ellie."<p>

Okay, so I can't exactly count the number of times I've been scared by the sound of my name. But I swear it's been increasing tenfold ever since I came to the school. At least my reaction to it has been getting better.

I turn slowly back, focusing on the percentage of the chance that this could possibly be an extinct unicorn calling me to be friends.

"Oh, um, Ellie, please don't kick me?" No unicorn.

I raise my eyebrows. "Aiden? Are you back to your stalker methods now? I think you should be trying them on someone el-" I fake cough, whispering, "CAM."

There's a tinge of a blush on his cheeks, and I grin. "Aww," I draw it out, "someone's in love."

"Anyways, Ellie," he said, abruptly changing the topic, and I let him, giving him the chance while he still could. "I wanted to talk to you. About Jake."

I stiffened. And Aiden notices, for sure. He tries to backtrack, saying, "Ellie, I mean-"

I sit down, right where I am, in the hallway. I'm tired of how everything needs to be delicate and whispered to me, how no one will scream at me because I'm fragile.

"What is it?" Even to me, my words seem harder, tired. Like I'm ready for the truth, whatever it is.

"I just want you to know, Jake does things he does for a reason. And I swear," he says, his eyes going astray behind me, "he would never hurt the people he loves."

I want to cry. I know Aiden means this to be a comfort, but - Jake has already hurt me, in the so many ways I can't even account for as pain. Maybe it was my fault to begin with, I was the one who depended on him, like a trusty anchor, because I thought he would understand everything, being there right next to me. Or maybe he did understand, understand too well what it was like.

Having something that supports you every single day, run away with loose ends, is like falling apart. I'm like that blanket, all the threads gone until everything is just pieces, and forever apart.

"Ellie?" Aiden asked, concern laced in his face. I wonder, how many times has he worn that look, in his life? How many times did he have to worry for someone else? Because maybe it's just my eyes, but it looks well worn, to the point that he should get a new look.

"I wonder how you do it, Aiden," I say, and I hear how bitter I sound, the cynical tone in my words. But I don't care.

"Do what?"

"How many times have you looked like that, worried for someone? How can you keep on waiting, on caring for someone that might not come back?"

He looks stricken; as if the truth hasn't hit him yet. But his eyes betray how he looks. He knows the pain too well.

I regret my words as soon as they come out of my mouth. This time, it's me that tries to backtrack, to somehow freeze my words and store them away from him. "Aiden-"

He shakes his head. After a moment, his head rises, and I think I see a tear threatening to make its way out of his eye.

"You've changed, Ellie."

* * *

><p>"Next we have CoveOps," Erika announced, reading off her schedule, that was sticking out of her binder, looking rumpled but very much alive.<p>

As we arrived at the CoveOps door, there was a floral sticky stuck on the door.

"I wonder what we're doing," I murmur, my hands twisting in anticipation.

_CoveOps exercise, meet outside_, the note read.

And also: _PS, dress in normal clothes_

Erika had a glint in her eyes. "Our own clothes! I love CoveOps."

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, we're decked out in personally picked outfits, courtesy of Erika.<p>

I'm awed in spite of myself, and Cam is looking pretty surprised, too.

"You sexy gorgeous ladies," she says, proud of her work, and we can't help but laugh. It's true, though. Erika's wearing a leather pleated skirt with a gray vintage sleeveless T-shirt and a long, loose cardigan. Cam's in a loose, really simple cream sundress with a skinny belt that shows her curves and a pair of brown boots.

"Um, Erika," I fidget. "What is this, exactly?"

She looks over at me, in the process of mascara-ing Cam, and scowls. "Ellie, just wear it. Then judge."

"Fine, fine. But really, Erika, where do you get this stuff?" I ask, slipping into a skirt that somehow miraculously fits me, and pulling over a crocheted tank and over that, a thin leather jacket. I'm huffing and puffing by the time I finish.

Erika took one look at me.

"Sexy gorgeous, darling."

He eyed us, and our outfits, as we panted, exhausted from the run. Some waterproof mascara smears confirmed they weren't waterproof, after all, and spent ten minutes trying to take it off completely. Thus, we were late.

"Well, ladies," his British accent was very thick, "your assignments. Will you get with your partners, please?"

Erika and Cam promptly found their corresponding partners, Tyler and Aiden, who studiously didn't share eye contact with me. With a pang, I realize Jake's absence as I gazed helplessly at my surroundings.

"Hey, Ellie," someone said, grasping my shoulder easily. I turned, and found a familiar face.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Abby Cameron."

It was the woman I had met earlier in the hospital ward, the woman that looked oddly like the headmistress and now I knew why.

"You're the headmistress' sister and Cameron Morgan's aunt," I say faintly, as I realize how she had the same pain as I had.

She smiled at me. "That's not the most famous and used title of mine, but it's true. I'm a Gallagher graduate, too. Nice to meet you, Eleanor Sutton, sister of Elizabeth Sutton and spy in training. You're from the south, you tie your laces right before left, you are right-handed, you have a tendency to bite your lip in nerve wracking situation, and you are considered important in the spy world as a value to a certain organization."

I felt a shiver up my spine, speechless at the information provided about me, that even I didn't know.

She leaned back, her face relaxed as she continued, "That's all I know in a couple of hours, max. But all those spy circles out there? They know more than you could ever know yourself. They would know every single place you've have contact with, they'd scout them down and find anything of value that they can. That's how scary they are."

My voiced trembled as I said this, but inside my mind, I was furious. "They can be scary all they can, Agent Cameron, but if you think they'll get me as fast as they think they can, they're wrong. If you think they can simply know me from information gathered and data collected, and try to capture me, you're wrong. I will not be defeated by some spy organization that I haven't even met!"

After a long, embarrassing silence, a twitch of a smile crept up her lips. "Do you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you'll do fine as my CoveOps partner."

* * *

><p>A flash of a familiar face appears in the thick crowd, only to disappear in seconds. I feel goosebumps appear on my arms and drift closer to Abby, who seems otherwise impassive.<p>

"Abby," I whisper, "do you see anything?"

Staring straight ahead she whispers out of the corner of her mouth. "No, did you?" I barely saw her lips move.

"Yeah, but it's probably nothing." I figured if the CIA operative didn't pick anything up, it was nothing. Just an imaginative, sleep-deprived teenage brain. Disappointed, I shake the thoughts out of my head. My eyes keep seeing the same person, the same jet-black hair, but his back is always turned to me like how he seems in my dreams. Jake.

"No, Ellie. If you see it a third time, it's most likely a tail. Don't second guess yourself. It's always in your gut instinct." Her voice is strong and steady, and it has a comforting motherly tone that I can't place.

"Even if I keep seeing Jake?" I whisper.

This catches her by surprise before her lips twist into a sympathetic smile. "Kiddo, there's just some things in life that it takes a while to get over. Sometimes it's not always easy. If it makes it any better, we're still on the lookout for any signs of him. We'll find him. " She rests a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. So basically, even the CIA operative thinks I'm crazy.

I sigh deeply. "But the thing is Abby, what if he doesn't want to be found?"

She made the tsk noise as the corners of her mouth dipped down. "Well, helping friends or not, Jake Adams needs to be in school. I know a thing or two about Blackthorne boys who play hooky. Trust me, once they set their mind on something, you'll never change it." She sighs. "The only thing you can do it try."

I feel myself enjoying this despite myself. Lately, my friends have been walking on eggshells around me. It feels good to talk to someone normally again. Well, as normal as spies can get, anyway. I smile slightly. "Really? Who?"

She debates for a minute, cocking her head. I roll my eyes playfully. "Wait, let me guess, it's classified, right?"

She snorts, trying to suppress laughter. "How many times I've heard that one. It's not classified, actually. It'll just wound his ego and his 'manly reputation'." She rolls her eyes.

I laugh. "Is it Mr. Zachary Goode?" I ask. She nods, unsurprised. "You're good."

I shake my head. "It's the only person I could think of that acts like Tyler that isn't Tyler, so..."

She grins. "Touche." I love the way Abby laughs. It's genuine, shoulder-shaking laughter and she doesn't bother to hide her wicked grin.

"You know Abby, you're pretty cool for an older person."

Her smile widens. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." That makes us laugh. I assume us to be civilians, we look like a pair of mother and daughter, out for a day in town. I see a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and the smile dies on my lips. There, on the other side of the street across the lane of cars, I see Jake. And it's not a hallucination. At once, the inner operative in me kicks into gear. I see Jake walk farther away, just out of sight. _I need a legend, and fast. _

"Hey Abby, do you mind if I go and talk to Aiden? I know it's a training thing and all, but I kind of upset him earlier and wanted to apologize." I pray that she doesn't see through me. After all, it isn't a lie, technically. But poor Aiden would have to wait a little.

She bites her lip. "Okay, but if anyone asks, I lost you at the intersection."

I huff out a breath. "You're too good for that, Abby. But thanks! You're the best!" I call over my shoulder before I lose myself in the crowd.

Triple-checking to make sure she's not following me, I slip into a pavement routine. Check the time every so often, tie a shoelace, buy a bottle of water, all while walking in the direction I last saw Jake walking, hoping for a glimpse of his familiar blue sneakers on the ground.

After walking aimlessly for ten minutes, I stop in a little nook between buildings to sit down. I closed my eyes and sighed tiredly. _What if they were right? What if he doesn't want to come back? What if he doesn't want to be found?_ I felt some betraying tears slide their way down my cheek.

All of a sudden, I feel a hand oh my shoulder. Instantly, the adrenaline kicks in and my thoughts are whirring. _To flip or not to flip? What if it's a civilian? Or a creeper? Heck, if it's a creeper and I'm in a remote alley, I'm going to flip him!_ And I did. But to my surprise, the person shifted their weight so I couldn't flip them. Whoever they were, they were one of us.

"Ellie." I heard my name being said by a familiar male voice. Tuning sharply, I caught the eye of none other than Jake Adams. I felt my jaw drop. "Jake?" I whispered, afraid that I would shatter the illusion.

But then the illusion started talking. I was too happy and relieved to be angry at him. I hugged him tight, afraid that he'd disappear again. I smiled at him, tugging his hand so we'd get out of the dark alley. "C'mon Jake, we have to get back to Gallagher. The exercise is probably over by now." I felt the smile freeze on my face when he didn't move. His expression was indifferent, even impassive. He was all business. "No, Ellie. I can't go."

"Why not?" I heard the fear in my voice. God, I am so pathetic.

"Because I need to help someone. And the only way I can do that is if you help both of us. We need you, Ellie." He said ever so cryptically.

"Of course I'll help you!" I breathed, relieved. I was so scared he'd leave again. _Be strong, Ellie, _I chided myself. "How? And who is the other person?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we don't have a lot of time, and we need to get somewhere, fast. Do you trust me?" He held out a hand.

Now, I know most of you are probably screaming that it's a bad choice and that nothing good can happen in an alleyway, but the Jake I knew would've helped me when I needed it. The truth is, I didn't know if this was the same Jake or not. The way he acts, the way he talks, it's like the only part of Jake that remained the same was his looks. But on the other hand, everyone keeps saying I changed too. But what did they know?

I smiled and took his hand, letting him lead me through town. My last thought? _I'm sorry Abby._


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note:**  
>Hey guys, sorry for the super delay for this chapter. Summer vacation kind of got to me. Here's to an... action-packed? emotional? chapter. (corny works, too.) As always, please review after you read. :) nothing makes us more excited than seeing that someone wrote that they liked the chapter.<br>-Erika

Haha, ditto what Erika said XD but now we'll be back to regular posting, hopefully. And this makes it our 20th chapter, yay! Enjoy!

-Nana

* * *

><p>"Jake," I smiled, grasping his hand firmly, making sure that he won't get away, "where are we going?"<p>

We were walking - fast - through town, weaving in and out of buildings, pausing every so and then at certain spots that I swore was for checking a tail. But I let him lead me around, anywhere was fine, I didn't care. I didn't care that he was using every single spy technique we've learned, and more that I've only seen. My logical part of my mind was noticing everything; hard not to when you've been taught to see everything. Not that, of course, the control side of my brain was listening.

He smiled back tensely, and replied, "Ellie, just around, you know? That friend I mentioned - she's not very fond of crowds, you know."

I nodded blindly, as a rather not so small part of me flared at the female friend he had, and clearly, treasured. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something.

Clearly, people every day see something that sparks their attention. Most of the time they wave it off, curious but not enough to satisfy that curiosity. But for spies, every observation, every piece of information they receive is valuable, to a certain extent. To see and watch everything around you is one thing a spy should never forget.

Apparently risk of danger to me overrides any control system I have in my brain. Reflexively, I kick out my right leg, my booted foot catching the assailant hard in the stomach. I feel something, a stomach guard, or a plate, as the man is on the ground. Nothing gets in the way of Gallagher's hard kicks.

I quickly turn for Jake, to shout for him to escape, but I see his face. And for the first time, I see what danger he poses to me.

With my heart, breaking again, I run away when all I want to do is squeeze him tight and never let him hurt me again.

* * *

><p>It's not enough.<p>

I can see him; chasing after me, his strides much longer than mine. I can nearly count the number of seconds I have before he catches up for me, so I make a split second decision.

I run myself into an alley, my back turned against the wall to prevent any attacks from the back.

The heat of the late afternoon sun rose off the pavement. In the shade of the alley, I saw his sharp jawline clench and unclench. His handsome features were twisted with pain, with anger. The Jake Adams I knew wasn't like this. This was someone else, a stranger.

Trying to keep my voice from shaking, I asked him, "Jake, what happened to you? What happened to the Jake I knew? The one who liked joking around and getting detention and kittens?" I laughed with no joy when the last memory surfaced to me.

I saw recognition lighten his eyes, only to vanish into the mask of anti-Jake, the one who barked out a harsh laughter. "That? Don't tell me you actually believed any of that, Ellie. I thought you were better than that. You're telling me that you can't differentiate a cover and reality?"

It felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest, or that the bullet I had once taken for him was still buried in my long I had tried to deny it, that this wasn't Jake. That this was all a misunderstanding. But he looked into my eyes as he said it, dead serious. His pupils didn't dilatate. He wasn't lying.

My voice came out broken and wispy, like how I felt inside. "I saved your life. I thought you said you'd owe me forever. Was that a part of your cover too?"

This seemed to dawn on him, like a crack in his impenetrable armor. The harshness in his face was replaced with pain, with regret. The thought occurred to me. Did he regret saving me? Saving the silly girl who'd saved him once, foolish enough to believe all the lies he told her. Stupid girl, eating up all the lies and content in her happy bubble, so naive.

Foolish and stupid. I felt sick.

"Do you regret it?" I whispered.

He shook his head at once. "No, but only because we're even now. You saved my life. I was just returning the favor."

I shook my head slowly, not comprehending. I understood the words, but it just wasn't sinking in, like my math homework sometimes. _Did I even want it to sink in?_ It was like taking pain medication. You don't feel it until it starts wearing down, and then it hurts more than you remembered. Every word he said brought me back to reality, to the present. I wished more than anything in the world that I could just wake up and know this was all a dream.

I became painfully aware of the weapon in his hands. He could kill me, right here and right now and no one would know.

I'd just be the story that gets whispered to scare the new kids: "_Did you hear what happened to Ellie Sutton? She trusted the enemy. Look what good it did to her."_

"Are you going to kill me now?" I ask quietly. I was grateful for how indifferent I sounded. So brave, so nonchalant, like my heart wasn't breaking into tiny pieces and like I wasn't about to get killed.

I saw his hand reflexively gripped the shiny gun tighter. Conflict appeared in his eyes. He bit his lip and I swear I saw tears gathering in his lower lid.

Swallowing my own tears, I said, "Erika and Cam and Liz and Macey and Bex and Zach and Tyler and Aiden and Abby will hunt you down and kill you if its the last thing they do." I laughed through my tears. I didn't doubt it for a second.

"Oh, and one more thing- you owe me that much- tell them I love them." The word 'love' felt clumsy and foreign on my lips, but I was glad that it was in my last words. It felt like a good omen. I blinked hard. "Just make it quick, Jake, okay?"

I suddenly flashed back to the memory of Erika and Cam and I in our dorm, talking about boys and drama and school, and how Erika had once joked that my life was like a drama program. _More like one of those cheesy tragic love stories I hate_, I thought bitterly. Dramatic setting? check. Betrayal? check. Dying by the hand of a lover? double check.

He swallowed hard and he suddenly appeared to age years. He raised a shaking arm with the gun, loaded, and aimed it to my heart. The thought that he must've done this many times before appeared in my head before I shoved it quickly away. There was a tense silence, and I waited for it to be shattered with the sound of the bullet. But it never came.

He moment he looked into my eyes, I knew he couldn't do it. They were so full of pain, and something else I didn't know. Out of his fingers, the gun slipped onto the ground with an echoing clatter.

I saw the tears finally spill over, and he bit his lip to keep it from quivering. He sank to his knees in front of me, completely vulnerable.

"Jake-" I say quietly.

"-You know I can't do it. I can't hurt you, Ellie." He closed his eyes and bows his head.

"Then don't," I breathe, relieved.

He shook his head slowly. "You don't understand." he whispers.

I take tentative steps toward him and reach out a hand. He lifts his head slowly stares for a long time into my eyes. I'm starting to memorize the colors of his eyes- some blue, green, and yellow, like the inside of a twirled kaleidoscope. So many different pieces, all shattered. I'm afraid to move and break the contact, it was like staring into the eyes of a dangerous snake. You were entranced - one move and it can ruin everything.

Eventually instead of taking my hand, he places the gun into it. Holding the cool metal soothes my feverish skin, but the shape is awkward and unfitting. I stare at him questioningly.

"I can't hurt you Ellie, I already told you that. But if they find me first, they'll kill me. Just shoot me and make it look like you turned the tables. Make it look convincing, okay?" He grits his teeth.

I continue to stare blankly.

He raises an eyebrow and mimes shooting an imaginary gun. "Like, pull the trigger? I assume you know how to shoot a gun, Ellie."

His voice has the familiar lilt in it, like he was teasing me. It's comforting, but it also makes me understand. He's trying to make it easy for me. Only one of us can escape unhurt, and he's taking the fall for me. But I'm not the kind of girl who needs other people to protect her. I'm a Gallagher Girl.

I shook my head slowly. I tried to make my voice as soothing and reassuring as possible. "No, Jake. I can't. I'm not going to hurt you. There must be some way we can both escape back to Gallagher safely. We're going to be fine."

His face paled. "You don't understand Ellie. It's not-"

"Aww, how sweet." He got abruptly cut off by a third voice behind me of someone I didn't even suspect to have crept up on us. I shivered; they said it with such fake sweetness and slyness that it made my skin crawl. Whoever it was, they were good. I spun around quickly only to end up staring at the ground; they had kicked my legs from under me.

I grit my teeth and tried to ignore the painful bite the cement had left on my palms and knees. I lifted my head for a second and saw a familiar face. I gasped, and felt the wind painfully knocked out of me.

The last thing I remember was a black laughter and the voice saying, _"Good work, Jake."_


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **

**Can't believe it's been 21 chapters already! You guys have been amazing with all the reviews and encouragement. Thank you so much to our regular readers and reviewers. Feel free to leave a comment or concern even if it's just a "update soon!" If you think a character's too OOC or something's too cheesy, honestly guys just let us know! (we don't bite :3)**

**-Erika**

* * *

><p>I start to regain consciousness slowly. Fighting the urge to snap my eyes open, I listen, not wanting to give myself away. I think Abby would've been proud.<p>

I'm left on a floor made of concrete, like the cell Jake and I found ourselves in a long time ago. Jake. His name stings like a memory not wanting to be uncovered just yet.

I listen for something, anything, from footsteps to breathing to gunshots. I get the eerie feeling in my bones that it's too quiet. Convinced that I'm alone, I open my eyes to a cell similar to the one Jake and I were previously captive in. It's the circle's work.

The rough bite of the concrete scratches my skin raw and clings to my clothes as I push myself into a sitting position. It was like using too much of Erika's peach-scented skin exfoliator that made my fair skin the very unattractive shade of Sunburnt Crimson. (Indigenous to the Sutton girls. Cam just about died laughing when Erika told that I should patent that color.)

My head pounds and I taste something bitter in my mouth. My bones feel leaden, it takes more effort than it should to move. I can't exactly remember what happened after I was knocked cold. The rational side of me tells me that I should be scared, but it's replaced with a calm determination. Whatever happens today was meant to happen.

The door swings open and I find myself looking at a familiar face. Jake. His footsteps are so light that I can't hear them over the hum of the pipes overhead. I stare at him for a long moment, not finding any words that can convey what I'm feeling inside. anger. mistrust. sadness. pain. confusion. In short, I am a mess.

With his poker face on, he wears a mask almost imperceptible. I can't help but think how familiar he looks to the old Jake. The one who wouldn't have threatened to shoot me.

He clears his throat. "Are you okay?" He asks, looking sincere. I raise my eyebrows, something that Cam taught me to master.

"Do you _think_ I'm okay?" I ask, but not rudely.

"No." He runs a hand through his messy hair. "Of course not. That was a stupid question, sorry."

I shoot him an "_Uh, yeah" _look that I usually reserve for Tyler. He winces exaggeratedly, mock-hurt. "Ouch. Killing my ego here, Ells." He puts a hand over his heart pretending to be wounded. I give him a grudging smile. Jake, like Aiden, is someone who you just can't help but be easy with when you get to know them.

"So-" I begin.

We hear sudden loud footsteps approaching and Jake claps a hand on my mouth, effectively cutting off my words.

"Listen, if you aren't talking, I'll have to introduce you to a few of my friends. And let me tell you, they won't be as friendly as I am." His voice turns haughty and aggressive.

My eyes widen to the point that they sting. Until the footsteps fade away, I fight the strong urge to bite his hand. He sighs deeply, releasing his hand.

"Sorry about that. I'm supposed to be, y'know, interrogating you." I pinch the skin between my eyes to keep a headache at bay. Still, it's unnerving how he can switch roles so fast like that.

"Does it have to be you?"

"What?" He arches an eyebrow.

"Does it have to be you?" I repeat. "I mean, no offense to your awesome interrogation skills, but why not bring in some expert torturer who doesn't even know me?"

A long pause.

"You're sure something, Ellie Sutton. Do you, like, have no self- preservation instincts whatsoever?" He looks worriedly at me like I'm a fragile porcelain doll prone to breaking.

I smirk. "Something like that."

He stretches out on the floor, clasping his hands behind his head like he did this everyday.

"So anyway, you're welcome."

"For what?"

"For not being an expert torturer who doesn't know you."

I want to burst out laughing but I stop myself in time. _Remember Ellie, you're mad at him._

Part of me just wants to cave in and forget everything that happened, but the other part of me wants to keep him at arm's length for the rest of my life.

"Why are you here?" I blurt. "I mean, do you work for the circle?"

He sighs again. "It's a long story. I do and I don't. I mean, I don't want to, but it's not exactly an open door."

"Going to elaborate?" I ask.

"No, I'm good." He grins, much to my annoyance.

"Okay, so where are we? Unless that's classified too?" I couldn't help but let a little bit of snarkiness into my voice.

He stares for a long minute before he answers. "Blackthorne Institute for Boys."

I'm speechless for a second. "You're telling me everything if we get back."

"_When," _He corrects and sighs. "Whatever makes you happy, Ellie."

* * *

><p>I couldn't be sure how much time had passed in the cell that I was placed in. There was no window to determine the daylight, nothing except for a door that was apparently the only way to get in and out of the place.<p>

I thought it to be maybe a couple of hours, not a complete day yet. I winced as I tried to uncramp my muscles, and ruefully wished I had the sense to stretch earlier. It was a small, cramped cell, perhaps custom made for me, a teenage girl. It couldn't have fit a grown man if he was standing.

With my cold hands, I tried massaging some feeling back into my aching feet, only achieving a partial victory.

My eyes glanced through the walls that surrounded me, my mind filled with a certain thought.

"Jake," I called, my head still tilted at the ground.

I heard him move around, the rustling loud to the quiet air that filled the space. "What?"

"Are they monitoring me?" I asked quietly, but firmly.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You'd think I would tell you, Ellie? I'm not the Jake that-"

I cut through his words with a cold, bored tone, as if what he said was of no value to me. And in a way, it was. "I don't care, about whoever you were before. I simply want to know; are they monitoring me? You know for yourself, don't you, that whether they do or don't, it'll still make my escape rate a flat 0 per cent."

He hesitated, a breath held for whatever he would say next. His hands were clenched into a fist that was trembling ever so slightly, and with a harder voice than before, he answered me. "There are no monitoring devices in here. They prefer interrogation tactics to be... private, if you will."

I nodded, and went back to massaging my body. There was no way to see if he was lying or not, but for a strange reason, I believed him. There should be no lies told here, as ironic as it is, in a place like this.

* * *

><p>"Seriously, what school has cells to keep prisoners in?" I complain as I'm climbing through the overhead labyrinth of the Blackthorne vents.<p>

"Um, this school?" He says, following closely behind me, "Besides, we used to have more but they got blown up last year or something."

"Oh gosh, I don't even want to know," I mutter. I hesitate for a second before whispering "Are you sure that we won't get caught, Jake? Did you double check all the exits?"

He makes a noise of disgust. "Yes, Ms. Sutton." I bite my lip to hard it leaves an indent.

"Ellie, you can trust me, you know." He whispers. "I don't blame you, but believe me when I say that'll never happen again. I promise."

And for once, I'm glad for the situation we're in so I don't have to look in his eyes. I bite my lower lip, not trusting words. I can hear his heavy sigh behind me.

"Ellie, this is our stop. This is going to lead to a window on the first floor; we're going to have to make a run for the woods."

_Okay, okay. You got this, Ellie. _

I carefully lift the metal grate from the wall and slip through making as little noise as I can. Holding it open for Jake to crawl through, I suddenly realize that something is terribly wrong. Shouldn't the circle have more security? Or guards? Escaping shouldn't be this easy. Jake lands on his feet next to me as graceful as a cat.

I look both ways down the hallway like I'm crossing the street. Still nothing.

"This doesn't feel right," I whisper.

He just shrugs and points to the window. "Ladies first," He whispers. "I'll watch your back."

I try to pry open the window, but the second my fingertips touch the frame I get a bolt of electricity. Not enough to kill me, but enough to keep me from trying again. Oh and another thing? We also triggered the silent wires.

"Oh god," Jake mutters and shakes my shoulders, as if that'll make it any better. "Ellie? Ellie, are you okay? Oh my god, this is all my fault."

I force out a few words, "Jake. They'll be coming soon. What are we going to do?" All of my teeth hurt.

"I don't know, I don't know!" He's practically shouting over the sirens. It's the first time I've seen him lose his cool and look scared.

"Move and I'll shoot," A commanding voice orders. It's Catherine Goode in all her glory pointing a gun straight at us. And I'm willing to bet my life that her aim is good.

Jake mutters a string of colorful words that would probably make Liz feel faint. We don't dare to move a muscle as she walk closer. Every click of her shoes on the floor is agonizingly slow. I mentally calculate the probability of escape, but every plan I come up with fails. Even Jake knows not to try something. We're trapped.

Her eyes narrow at me and for a second I'm worried that she read my mind. Then I just realize how stupid that sounds.

"Don't try anything like this again sweetie," She practically purrs, "You'll regret it; I swear on his life." He jerks her angular chin in Jake's direction, who's too busy rolling his eyes.

I'm dragged to the same dirty cell that I was in previously, but this time, someone had hastily nailed shut the grate on the wall. With a pang, I realize Jake isn't with me. I can't help but think over in my head, "_This is my fault."_

* * *

><p>Surely there's nothing really, that'll scare me injury-style after the couple of attempts after my life, right? After all those gory gunshots and broken bones?<p>

Wrong.

I gasped, as Jake was thrown in my cell, accompanied this time by a burly, stocky man who smirked at me, before locking the door with a loud clang that made me wince.

My mind didn't even try to formulate possible escape routes from the few seconds of the open cell door; my eyes went straight to the moaning Jake, examining him from head to toe. There were black and blue spots all over him, decorating him in a rather morbid version of the easter egg. I could tell, instantly, how much pressure was forced to make the colorings and I bit my lip, hard, keeping my soft feelings inside.

"Hey, girlie," the man snarled at me, and I whipped my head to glare at him, which only made his smirk wider. "Tell your little boyfriend," my cheeks flushed at the emphasis on the word, "that it was a mistake to try and escape, you hear? The generosity of the Circle is only so much."

He rocked the keys on the rings loudly, taunting us with the close proximity of our freedom, before exiting the room.

After a moment of quiet, to confirm no other visitors, I quickly threw my attention back to Jake, who was now rather conscious and feeling.

"Jake?" I desperately tried to get his attention. "Are you okay?"

An eye winked open, as he winced with the pain of trying to smile. "Ellie?"

"Jake, we have to-"

"Sh." He shushed me, still wincing, as he tried to sit up. I assisted him quickly, which he seemed grateful for, gently shifting so that he'd lean against the wall without any pain.

I stayed quiet, waiting for Jake to speak.

"Ellie," he repeated, his voice a bit raspy and hoarse, "I want you to know that if-"

I was tired. Physically, emotionally, mentally, everything tired. Tired of, honestly, a lot of things. Tired enough to maybe change my mind, a tiny bit, about what I said earlier. Maybe it was the feeling of nostalgia I had as the attempts on my life continued. Maybe for a moment, I just wanted to be good old Ellie again; not the changed, new Ellie that everyone treated differently. Maybe just the Ellie that I always was, with Jake.

"Jake," I hissed, my emotions getting the better of me, "you will shut the hell up right now or I will personally make you shut up. All right?"

Okay, maybe a bit too strong and emotional. He looked alarmed for a moment, as if such words were never brought to him before (and I assure you, he had heard them and worse, many, many times).

He barely managed to nod a bit, if you would count such a tiny fraction of a nod as one, as I continued. "Whatever you need to tell me right now, you can tell me later. Don't you dare," I narrowed my eyes with this. "Now, make this soapy shit act disappear. If you'll think I'll settle for a mediocre dying scene, forget it."

He widened his eyes. Truthfully, it was a rather documentary needed scene (you will almost never catch me swearing, really).

"Well, Princess," he said, still looked shocked with a rather smirky expression, "if you say so."

I raised my eyebrows. He got the unsaid message.

"You know, demanding and snotty and rich and the deciding factor, pretty? I'm sure you know what Princesses are, Princess."

I would've blushed if it wasn't such a derogatory sentence. "Well then, beachball, I suggest you-"

"Freeze."

I froze. There was that intimate, familiar sound behind me of a gun clicking; no one would forget a sound like that. Jake froze along with me, his eyes widening on the person. I ached to turn around, but knew it would cost our lives if I did. I tried to read him, see what he could see, but his face was of surprise, utter surprise, I only prayed for it to end well.

The voice was definitely a woman's, but not Catherine's sly drawl. It was young, but rough, as if she had been through hell and back.

After a long pause, I hear the gun clicking back into place and I turn around slowly, just in case. Jake has his legendary confused face on, like he's trying to find the answers that are right in front of his face.

It turns out is was a girl, a girl with with plain-Jane features; brown eyes, light brown-blonde hair, and is an average height. She's a forgettable face, and I suddenly see how dangerous that is. I highly doubt she worked for the circle because if she did, we'd probably be dead by now. It was like she was made to be a spy. She slides her calculating eyes from Jake's to mine. Her face lifts with recognition, like she found something she was looking for; and that's probably what scares me the most. I feel like I should know her, but I have no idea who she is. I share a fleeting look with Jake; we're both caught completely caught off guard. Her naturally pink lips twist into a tentative smile and she drops her gun.

"Sorry about that. You must be Ellie?" I nod, not knowing what else to do. She stares at me for a long minute, and I can't help but think she's beautiful. Her eyes have a look that says she's a fighter- and nothing can get in her way if she can help it.

And nothing can prepare me for what she says next.

"I'm Cammie, Cammie Morgan."


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Hey, another chapter for you guys. Sorry it's really late, but hope you enjoy, review to make us post faster :)**

**-Nana**

**Hey guys! Sorry for not posting in a LONG TIME! T.T But fortunately, we wrote the last few chapters of this story. (idk if its a good thing or not, lol) We're both very sad. . I think we only have a couple chapters left. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>If it were any other circumstances, I probably would have died once, die again, and after dying three times, desperately grasp her hand as if it was the last strand of hope for me, and ask for an autograph.<p>

I was, actually, tempted to do exactly that but we were in enemy territory with a high chance of being discovered soon.

"Cammie!" I said in delight, even though I had never met her before. The joy of Liz and Bex and Macey and Zach when they find that Cammie is well filled my voice, but it soon disappeared to a low, serious manner. "Why are you here? You should get out, now, before they find you!"

"Right, because I'd get out without getting you guys out first."

Her answer blanked my mind for a moment. From what I heard from my sister and her friends, the Chameleon was an elusive spy that couldn't be found if she didn't want to be. The last I heard from Zach was that they were searching Rome. Why would the Chameleon be coming to Blackthorne to save a couple of teenagers?

"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but _why?_" Jake sounds just as surprised as me.

She arches an eyebrow (not the easiest thing to do) and looks at us as if we're supposed to know the answer. She sighs.

"Well for one, because I heard about you guys and I couldn't just leave you here to die. Two, Liz would certainly kill me if she found out that I left her little sister with the Circle, so, any more questions? We don't have a lot of time."

Jake and I shake our heads almost fervently and obediently. She smiles.

"Okay, here's the deal," she lowers her voice, "There are forty guards in this building, and at 3:00 they change the guards. It's soon, so the guards are getting ready to go, which means they aren't paying as much attention. You're going to make a run for it- down the hall and take two rights- there's going to be a stairwell. Outside, a friend of mine has a car waiting. The secret word is 'Liz'." She smiles slightly at our dazed faces. "Got that?"

"Yeah, but there's one thing- aren't you going with us?" I could hear the panic in my voice like a child's.

She waits patiently, "No. If we all go at once, it'll be too suspicious. I'll go first, and you follow a minute later, okay? They're changing guards already- we have three minutes."

Just as her slim figure was about to turn out of the door, Jake interrupts. "You know we already tried escaping right? If we get caught again she'll kill me."

Cammie purses her lips slightly, pondering. "Don't get caught, then. Meet you outside in one." She gives us a two-fingered salute- like the one I saw Bex using once- and speeds out of the door tossing us a key.

Now some spies may tell you that learning to kill a guy with a ballpoint pen or shooting a sniper off the roof is the most important thing about being a spy, but let me tell you this right now- it's the waiting. There has never been a longer sixty seconds of my life.

We were crouched together low, right in the shadow of the door that lead to our escape route. Our feet were placed expertly and comforting, no aches to make us shift our position and let a soft crumble of the floor make them find us prematurely.

The internal clock in me wasn't as accurate - they were still training it into us - but as it neared 50 seconds, I shot a look at Jake, whose lips curled up at the corners. I took that as a, 'Let's go and give'em hell', confirmation.

I easily started into a running position, my knees quickly supporting my long strides. I could hear the labored breaths of Jake, who was running behind me.

My eyes darted from side to side as I instinctively stopped my breathing. Jake froze alongside me, as we leaned into the wall.

There was a pair of guards (for to be alone was dangerous, especially in halls and passageways). Also the reason why Jake and I were together.

"Almost three oh oh," one grumbled, and I could hear his standard army boots that we had memorized from class, scratch the ground idly.

"They should be here soon," the second said, somewhat worriedly.

They must be talking about the change of the guards, I thought.

The first man snickered. "Who cares, let's just go. It's not like there's anything valuable to guard down here, is there?"

As they began to trudge towards us, my thoughts swirled in my mind. They would see us for sure, no matter what we could do. The best thing for us would be a surprise attack, and get them quiet as possible.

As if Jake could read my thoughts as they continued on a fast track, he shifted his feet ever so slightly to change his stance to offensive, to attack the first man to walk through the path. So I was assigned to the second man, who seemed more methodical and not as aggressive or strong.

The tip of the first boot crossed into the path with Jake getting the man out of the way with a quick punch and a sling over the shoulder move. The man behind me widened his eyes, his mouth open for words that I knew would bring our doom. So, quicker than I could have ever thought, I slammed into him hard against the wall, using all of my body weight to hit the air out of him.

With some well placed thumb shots to certain areas of the body, he slumped against the wall right next to Jake's target, who looked rather worse for the wear.

Jake smirked at the two bodies as he stepped in closer to the men and blew in their face.

"Dead wrong, weren't you?"

* * *

><p>We kept on running, taking the two rights as directed. There was no other disturbances, other than another guard that luckily didn't cross our path. We both decided it was safer to not disturb anything more than we needed.<p>

As our steps took us up the stairwell that Cammie had described to us, I expected, well, like most movies, to be blinded by sunlight as we came out of darkness for the first time in ages (technically days can and will be specified as ages, thank you very much).

But to my embarrassment and aghast, it was still dark save for some dandy old lanterns giving the entire, well, tunnel I suppose you would call it, a gloomy and thick feel.

I was half waiting for a yell of burning eyes from Jake, with my own eyes closed. But after a moment or so, I opened my eyes to see him giving me a strange look.

"Procedure," I briskly said, striding ahead so that he wouldn't see my blush.

"Right," he smirked.

We stopped talking after that, our eyes simply looking for, well, anything at all. The tunnel was huge, enough for maybe one car to fit. For the one car that will save us to hopefully, fit.

But as we kept on walking, there was nothing to be seen. Eventually, we came to a stop, knowing that there was nothing, really, to be done.

"Oh my god," I murmured, biting my lip. "What happened?"

Jake didn't speak for a minute, before replying, "What about that code thing we were supposed to know?"

I thought about it. "Wasn't that meant to be for the people in the car?"

He shrugged, running his fingers through his hair. "Hey, you never know. Cammie never said that."

"Right, right," I mumbled, irritated. What was the freaking code for if it wasn't for the drivers?

So, for spies, it's both instinct and impulse that's been the savior of their sorry lives for so many years. And at that time, I felt a huge impulse to just scream out a huge long line about, well, about everything, I suppose. Never was there the regard for our safety because we apparently didn't even have a stupid runaway van.

"Can we just get out of here first before we have to walk five miles of a stupid tunnel or have to knock out some guards because I am tired of all this and I want to get home and drink hot chocolate and eat belgian waffles and just hug Liz, alright? Is that too hard to understand?"

My scream echoes out, and I have the satisfaction welling up in me for a couple of seconds before Jake glances at me.

"Procedure." I say again, matching his glance.

"Ah." He has the smarts not to say more.

We kept on walking, simply an action required because there was nothing else to do. But do you remember how I was saying about that sunlight that hits you after being in the dark for long that it nearly kills our eyes? As it turns out, we did have a runaway van. Oh yes, paint and darkness and mud and believe it or not, but coconut oil are crucial points in de-signifying a 'borrowed' van for a couple of hours.

It was parked so far away, but the lights that turned on were so bright, they were the sunlight I was imagining as I got into this tunnel in the first place.

Next to me, Jake was simply standing there, his mouth wide open at the sight.

There was the possibility that it was an enemy van, ready to pick us up and deposit us right back into their bank account with some nice black and blue to add to our names. It could have been a rival group, ready for some revenge of another kind. But as with every spy, I followed my gut.

With a burst of adrenaline, I ran towards the van, going faster than ever. Jake, behind me, got a slow start, but began to catch up with me (which should have probably bruised whatever pride I had left).

As we neared the van, which was going along silently but at a slow speed, the door opened with a thin, but strong looking arm that reached out for us, like the only thing that would get us safely out of here, back home to Liz. That ray of sunlight that was hidden away from us in our dark stay appeared, blinding me as I closed my eyes and let them take me.

* * *

><p>I follow Jake into the van after the door opens. The guy who's driving swivels to check if we're okay before revving the engine. He's pretty thin and lanky, and I don't exactly peg him for the spy or assassin type. He couldn't be much older than Zach or Cammie. I sincerely hope that he's the guy Cammie sent for us because I'm pretty sure that even Liz could beat up this guy.<p>

"Liz?" Jake asks, and I immediately snap out of my oh-god-I-just-escaped-a-prison daze. _Liz. Right. Focus, Ellie!_

"Liz," the guy confirms, not lifting his eyes from the one-way road. "Hey, are you guys, y'know, okay?" His voice cracks awkwardly as it rises the scale in concern.

"Not really," I answer, not even trying to sugar-coat it, "But we're alive, so..."

Gratefully, there's a long pause after that.

"So hey," he tries for conversation again, "you're Liz's little sister?" But he probably already knew the answer to that.

"Yeah, I am." A few months ago I would've probably snapped to make a comeback, probably something immature and lame. I used to sulk at being in Liz's shadow, but now, I don't mind so much.

Jake shifts restlessly next to me. "So any chance we can just gun it from here to the highway?"

I peer through the windows the only thing stopping us from the deserted public road behind Blackthorne building is a small gate. Crap.

"Woah, woah," cautioned Jake, staring at the gate that was slowly but surely getting closer to us. "Any plan for this, secret van driver?"

His sarcasm went unnoticed as the driver licked his lips, a worry line etched up between his brows. "Well, Cammie was going to improvise right here..."

My head shot up. "Oh my gosh, where is she?" In the heat of the moment, I had totally forgotten about the Chameleon. She had gone out before us, she should have been in the van with us right now.

A grimy voice called out from behind us. "I'm all right, Ellie. Just being primed up for the big fight."

The driver snorted. "If that's what you spies call it, primed up. More like the last supper."

"What? Why?" I asked, agitated. I turned back to see Cammie behind us, who didn't look like the Cammie we talked to in our little jail cell.

She was definitely tired, bruised, needing of a week's rest in a comfortable hospital. I could see the faint spots of discomfort she chose to avoid, a hint of wincing in her expression as she smiled at me. "Just some nice old warm ups, nothing to worry about."

My eyes widened. Thoughts swirled as I reached the conclusion as to her sudden change in appearance. My mind virtually surveyed the route that Jake and I had gone through to escape, at the lack of guards or with, well, relative safety. Even the guards we had knocked out were easy to do so, not like the ones I was expecting.

"You did it." My words were scarce, but she knew what I was saying. A wry smile stretched across her face.

"I do a lot of things." she replied, which summed up the vast majority of all the spies in the world's occupation. Doing things.

Jake interrupted with a worried tone. "So what's our impromptu plan for this? Walking out with a humongous explosion behind us, tearing everything down? Or is it more subtle, like sleeping gas with hallucinatory effects?"

I felt Cammie about to answer, the words on the verge of her lips, when the first shot hit the van.

The driver swerved a bit, before resuming on the usual route, but with more alarm in it.

"Good thing Liz tinkered with this van," she muttered, strapping something on to her that I didn't really need to guess what it was.

"Liz?" I asked.

She nodded distractedly. "She got this ugly van running with state of the art engines, going more than the faster car in the world. And for the record, it's missile proof."

My blood went cold at the last sentence. What was wrong with good old bullet proof?

"Shouldn't we be fine with all the bullets, then?" Jake asked.

Cammie bit her lip. "Even if we were, they'll still come after us, and nothing missile proof can stop that. Anyways, get your hands moving. Put these vests on," she motioned, her hand throwing us two packs of bullet proof vests, "and get yourself a gun, while you're at it."

"A gun?" The words dried in my throat, as I tried to imagine myself shooting someone, anyone, with a bullet to the heart, to the head, to any vital organs that'll lead to their death. All the gunshots I've experienced, that one part of the orientation I had gone so many months ago that Cammie, supposedly, had been in, where Abby had been shot.

She looked at me, straight in the eye. There was no flicker of the determination in there, the determination to protect everything that she had no matter the cost. "That's right. It's very easy, and I would show you but there's no time, and I'm sure you know already, right?"

I nodded.

Cammied resumed sliding things in and out of her vest as she kept on talking. "You've got to know how they do it in this world, Ellie. What Gallagher teaches you, it's only the basics on how to survive. The rest, you either learn and live, or you die trying."

That got me to mechanically move my hands and grab a gun from the cardboard box next to Cammie. It felt oddly irreplaceable in my hands, as if it was meant to fit perfectly in the nook of my palm. Jake, beside me, also took a gun and expertly handled it. There was nothing foreign in the way he touched it, rather, it was as if it was an extended part of his limb, simply adding on a feature that was gone before.

He caught my look at him, and he shrugged. "Blackthorne is my school, El. Nothing can change that."

Before I could reply, shots rang out outside of the van, but not at the van. There was the sounds of bodies slumping to the ground, and footsteps that came closer to the van than ever.

"You're in there, aren't you?"

That familiar voice woke me up.

Cammie widened her eyes, then narrowed them. No doubt she knew who it was already.

"I swear, if you get me out of here, I'll do anything for you people; what do you need? All this flesh is yours to keep, Gallagher."

I could hear the gears turning away in Cammie's mind. All the possible enemies were gunned down, there was no way they could waste time here when escape, and recollection of the hostages, to not get first priority. It was obvious, logically, which path to choose.

"Let her in." I whispered.

There was a second of quiet, with Liz's engine barely humming, before Cammie snarled.

"No, we will not. Go, Preston, go! I'm not letting you two in danger until you're locked down in Sublevel 3!"

I felt the steely determination get into my voice (which often lead to trouble) and I replied, "You will let her in, Cammie, or you will see what a gun in my hand can do. What this bullet proof vest can do. I can run away, just like you did, and no one will find me. I am a Gallagher Girl, and I can do what I said I will."

"She nearly killed you two! Are you saying you want me to put the assassin to your lives in the same van that Liz made?"

The thought of Liz cracked me, and nearly destroyed the determination I had. But I kept on going, if only for the fact that I understood.

"That girl and I, we're both the same. We both are used by everyone and everything around us, twisting and turning until we don't know who is who and what is good and bad. You, of all people, should understand, Cammie. How it feels to be a tool."

There was a stony silence, for when every second counted, it was long and loud. Then, Cammie sighed, and pointed her gun at the door.

"Cammi-" I cried, ready to confront her.

But she instead yelled, "Drop your weapon! Drop it now, or I'll shoot!"

That was followed by the clattering of a gun, along with a muffled drop of what I suspected to be a bullet proof vest.

Everything else was a blur of the moment, with the girl, tired and on the verge of dying, collapsing into the van with a flurry of limbs, with Cammie, ordering the driver, Preston, to go as fast as if Macy was after him with a paperclip (which he did), and with a faint whisper of the words that said so much in the two syllables that were uttered.

_Thank you._


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Sorry this isn't as long as the last chapter, but hope you still enjoy! As always, review for quicker chapters! **

**-Nana**

* * *

><p>The van ride was more awkward that you would expect to be; riding in silence and sitting next to an assassin. Yup, no sing-alongs or I Spy. It was a silent movie in here. Fortunately, Jake seemed to take a liking to Preston, whom he had just realized was the presidential candidate's son from last year.<p>

"Wait Preston... as in Preston Winters?" He exclaimed. You would've thought you gave him a hundred dollars or something. They started their guy conversation that none of us girls could really keep up with.

"Cammie?" I asked quietly so no one else would hear.

"Yeah?"

"About earlier, I didn't mean to... I don't- I'm sorry." I stuttered when words failed me.

"It's okay, Ellie. I get it." She smiles. I noticed that Cammie, Macey, Bex and my sister were so different in so many ways, but there was a common thread that wound through all of them- they were fiercely loyal and smart and intuitive. But I guess we were all family in a way, being sisters and all. It was like the family I never asked for.

"Cam, where are we going, exactly?" Preston asked. I fought the urge to scream. Our own driver didn't even know where we were going?

"Just stick to the road like I said, Pres," She answered calmly, "The farther we get from that place, the better. Stop when we get to the next parking lot; I have a phone call to make."

The conversations quickly ended and it was silent except for Preston's quiet humming along to the radio. I looked through window at the unfamiliar terrain with the yearning to go back home aching like a physical need. I bit my lip, surprised. I didn't mean at home in Alabama; I meant Gallagher Academy. I guess that stone mansion has become a second home to me, like the one in the suburbs back in Alabama.

Lost in thought, I noticed distantly that none of us really mentioned the assassin's existence, but her presence was like an elephant in a room- and I could tell by the way that Cammie sat, strung tight and her grip on her gun that she was ready to shoot if the assassin tried anything.

"So... what's your name?" Preston asked, breaking the momentary silence. Even though his eyes didn't stray from the almost- deserted road, we all knew whom he was talking to.

I was stunned. I guess while I was battling for my life at Gallagher I never had the chance to ask her, "Hey, what's your name?"

I could tell she was just as surprised as I was, and while I peeked at her at the side of my vision I saw her cat-like eyes narrow.

"Why?" she asked flatly.

"Well... 'cause... y'know, isn't it the polite thing to do?" He paused and read Cammie's expression beside him, which was along the lines of "What the heck are you doing, crazy?"

"What?" he said defensively, "It's not like she's a prisoner or anything."

Jake let out a snort. "Yeah, well, we would've been too unless you guys saved our sorry butts. How does it feel now, huh?"

I reach over the seat and sock him in the arm lightly. "Jake!" I hiss.

Cammie swivels her body from the passenger seat to face the three of us.

"I bet you're sorry you came now, huh?" Her lips twist to a wry smile, but it's not antagonizing. I think she picks up on this too because she whispers, "Remy." It's so quiet that I don't understand what she's saying at first. She clears her throat again and starts again. "Remy. My name is Remy."

Remy. _That's a pretty name, _I think. If I were still in Alabama, I probably would've obsessed about it and go into a jealous phase and wish my parents named me something as cute as Remy. Then again, if I were still in Alabama, I never would have met an assassin hell-bent to kill me, and I definitely wouldn't be carpooling with her.

"I'm Cammie," she says. I think only someone trained could've heard the slight pause before her name, as if it were a piece of information she were reluctant to give. "So what's your story, Remy? Why are you hanging around the circle?"

Remy bites her lip and I see conflict appear in her dark eyes.

"You'll probably will be detained at Gallagher," Cammie prods, "Telling us now might be a good idea."

"Okay, okay," Remy says quickly, "I'll tell you."

"A few years ago, my family and I were kidnapped by the circle. I guess we were 'too close' to one of their bases or something. All I remember was being strangled an-and it was so dark, and-" her even voice breaks, "All I remember was waking up alone after that, and that woman -Catherine- told me that I would do whatever she told me or else she would hurt my family. I don't know what happened to my parents, but they let me see my brother once. That's why I had to go to Gallagher- I had to hurt you guys or else they said they would hurt my brother." Her voice aches with real pain. "You guys understand, right?"

I let all that sink in. I imagined that if I were in her situation, I would've gone crazy trying to save Liz. Suddenly, she didn't seem so terrifying and cruel. Just real, I guess.

"Remy?" I ask, surprised to hear my own voice, "Where is your brother now?" Immediately from her expression I saw that I asked the wrong question. Her dark, slanted eyes fill with tears and pain.

She choked on a teary laugh that we all knew wasn't supposed to be funny. "I failed, remember?" It was all she needed to say. We're all stunned into silence. I tentatively reach a hand out to pat her back comfortingly, like Cam would do if she were here. She stiffens at first, but doesn't do anything. Giving up or tolerating it, I'm not sure.

"Since we seem to be doing confessions here, I just want to say I'm not with the circle." Jake proclaims, "Anymore, anyway. They do messed up shift there. And the kids they recruit? Completely brainwash them." he shudders, "Completely. Messed. Up."

"Pull over here, Preston." Cammie whispers. I'm not sure exactly where we are, but I know that we're far out of sight of Blackthorne. She pulls out a techy-looking contraption that could be a cell phone, but I'm not too sure. After pushing enough buttons for a long-distance phone call, she hands the phone to me, the dial buzzing. Even though I don't know exactly, I have a pretty good guess who it could be.

"CAMMIE?" I hear Liz's familiar southern twang.

"No, well yes. It's Ellie, Liz. We're not far from Blackthorne." I rush it all in one breath. "Oh god, Liz, I miss you so much."

There's a long pause. "Ellie? Ellie? Are you still there? Are you okay? We're coming as soon as we can-" Her frantic voice breaks, "We're getting your coordinates. Don't hang up, okay, Ellie? We'll be there soon, I promise. We'll be there soon, okay?" Her familiar voice sounds so much like my mothers when one of us got hurt or lost- completely panicked.

My voice becomes miniscule. "Okay, Liz."

She doesn't respond for a while, but I hear a mad rush of things going on at the other side of the line. It became very prominent that she had shared the information with Bex and Macey.

_"Is Cammie there?"_

_"Crap! I forgot the little munchkins! What class does seventh grade have now?" _

_"Headmistress Morgan!" a very out of breath voice exclaimed, "We have something to tell you..."_

"You know," Cammie's voice breaks into my thoughts, "Liz designed that walkie talkie. She made it so that you got reception in the most remote areas. It's got a tracker and everything."

I nod absently and try to see the van coming down the road that's not there.

"Hey, I see them!" Jake exclaims. Jerking up, I practically press my nose to the glass.

"Really?" I ask, "Where?"

He groans. "False alarm, people. It was just a squirrel." It suddenly felt like I was in elementary school again when I found out Santa wasn't real. Utter disappointment. Even Remy rolled her eyes, and she was probably the least one of us excited to go back to Gallagher.

* * *

><p>Finally, I see it. A black van rolls up the road, as cliche as that sounds. It speeds up and doesn't stop until it's right next to us, and its contents spill out before the driver even completely hit the breaks.<p>

Liz, who's surprisingly first, catches me in a tight hug. Her hair is all messy and her uniform is disheveled, and I know that she probably left right in the middle of dinner to find me. I can feel her warm tears fall on my hair and her words against my head. "Oh my god, Oh gosh, Ellie. Don't ever leave again okay? I don't know what I'd do without you."

I feel a hard lump in my throat that burns with hot tears. "Me neither," I whisper.

"Ellie!" I hear my name being shrieked simultaneously, and I look up from Liz's shoulder to see Erika and Cam. They practically tackle me and squeeze all my air, but I don't care. "We forgive you," Erika says quietly.

"For what?" I say, confused.

"For leaving without us, beach ball!" she shrieks. Her scream is so full of anger and hurt, but she buries her face in my shoulder and I know that I'd rather be in the hands of Erika Hart than Catherine Goode any day.

I retract myself and look at them, and I have to bite back a laugh. They're both wearing only part of a uniform- Erika's without her vest and Cam's shirt is inside-out.

"What are you two wearing?" I laugh. Erika, who looks equally as disgusted, explains, "We were showering before dinner when they found us."

Cam smiles, "But I'm glad they did."

"I love you guys," I grin, "I didn't want to leave you guys behind, honest."

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around. It seemed that Jake, Tyler, and Aiden already had their Hallmark- worthy reunion already.

"May we interrupt?" Tyler smirks.

I ignore him and hug him and Aiden quickly. A near-death can make you really appreciate the most annoying people in your life. Cough, Tyler, cough cough.

"Can I have a hug too?" Jake mock-pouts.

"I just sat in a car with you for half an hour!" I protest, but happily oblige.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Remy standing awkwardly, the only one not hugging someone or in line to hug someone. I also notice that the headmistress has a keen eye on her, no doubt putting two and two together. I break away from the mob and make my way over to her, my heart hammering in my throat.

"Headmistress Morgan?" I ask. "I know that Remy's going to go into questioning and all, but she had a really good reason to do what she did."

Mrs. Morgan cocks an eyebrow, but continues to listen. I tiptoe into her ear a whisper my plan.

After a long, pregnant pause, she considers it.

"I can't promise you anything, Ellie, but I'll do my best to try."

And that's all I can ask for.

* * *

><p>Now, I could lie and tell you that that was the most exciting part of our reunion, but the most exciting part was Cammie, really. It was almost like a slow-motion scene in a movie, the way Zach, Macey, Bex and Liz stared at her. It was as if they were looking at a familiar stranger.<p>

"Gallagher girl?" Zach whispers. Cammie says nothing, just stares at him. But I see the way she looks at him that it's more than she could ever put in words. Folded into his arms, I hear a ghost of her whisper. "I'm so sorry."

Zach somehow becomes so vulnerable, like a little boy. It's amazing how one person can make Zachary Goode, popular, egotistical, Zachary Goode, into a boy. But I guess this day is full of miracles.

"Hey, let go of her! It's our turn!" Macey says playfully in her commanding voice, effectively breaking them up.

"Thank you, Macey," the headmistress says, hugging Cammie tightly in Zach's place. "Cameron Ann Morgan!" she scolds through her tears, "Don't ever leave like that again, you hear?" It's almost by magic that the invisible weight lifts off her, the one she's been carrying since the beginning of the year.

As soon as the headmistress breaks away to make a phone call, Liz, Macey, and Bex swoop in.

"Don't ever leave again without backup, Cam!" Liz cries, "Those were the longest months ever!" Cammie end up comforting Liz, as if Liz was the one who nearly died in the hands of the circle today. Oh, well. That was Liz- she loved so hard. Macey quietly adds herself to the embrace, not caring if her mascara got runny. But the last of all was Bex, who narrowed her eyes at Cammie.

"Bex? Bex, I'm sorry, but I had to. I couldn't take you guys with me, no matter how much I wanted to. Trust me, I did." Cammie pleads.

"I thought we were sisters, Cam. How could you not take us with you?" Bex doesn't sound angry, but more hurt.

"You are! You are, Bex!" Cammie cries, "Don't you understand? I didn't want to hurt you guys anymore, I-" She gets cut off by Bex, who crushes into the emotional sandwich of bodies.

"Just promise you won't leave again without telling us, okay?" Bex says, "Or I'll have to kill you."

Cam laughs watery tears, "Cross my heart."


	24. Chapter 24

**GUYS ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER! T.T I can't believe this story is over! I had a ton of fun writing this with you Nana! (if you're reading this lol) Love and thanks to everyone who took the time to read all 24 chapters and reviewed!**

**Thoughts about a sequel? :)**

**-Erika**

**OKAY GUYS GET THE TISSUES OUT ITS THE LAST CHAPTER**

**thanks for sticking through everything**

**and all our chapters, we really appreciate it**

**enjoy!**

**-Nana**

* * *

><p><strong>SKIP TO MAYJUNE**

"Ellie!" Erika shrieks, wielding an eyeliner pencil in front of my face, "Don't move!" Note to self: don't move when someone if doing your makeup with a potentially lethal object.

While I'm being eyeliner-d, I look around our bedroom, which is not the easiest thing to do when someone is hovering over you with makeup. It looks like someone put a bomb in Erika's closet and it exploded her clothes on our beds and on the floor. Only two things could describe the mess: ransacked, or graduating party for the senior Gallagher and Blackthorne class. And as much as it looked like some rouge spy went through all of our stuff, it was the latter.

Cam, who was Erika's earlier subject, is already made-up and slipping into an Erika- approved dress. The black ruffled dress she picked out was very Cam-like: conservative and classy.

"She doesn't need to be made-up," Remy grumbles, "She looks fine the way she is."

Oh, and did I mention that Remy is our fourth roommate? After she got detained by the Gallagher trustees (and the CIA) for a while, Mrs. Morgan let her stay at Gallagher because she had nowhere else to go. She may have, ahem, had a little help with that. She fit into our group perfectly, like the last piece to our puzzle.

"I know she does! I'm not painting her face, jeez. I'm just... enhancing per se." Erika grins. She spins me around to face Remy and Cam.

"See? You can barely tell there is any there." She exclaims.

Self consciously, I reach a fingertip to brush my eyelid, but Erika's hand catches me on the way there. She clucks her tongue at me impatiently. "Ellie, honey, you look amazing. Now don't ruin it or else I'll have to start over. Slowly."

I'm pretty sure Remy and Cam could hear my whimper across the room. "Love you too, sweetie." Erika laughs.

I look into our shared mirror, and it's obvious that Erika knows what she's doing. The dress she lent me fits perfectly, and I successfully avoided her death-trap heels. My blonde hair was patiently curled by Cam who was, of course, already ready ahead of all of us. Erika's makeup job was flawless too. She was right- it was barely there. All the dirt and grime from Fall had been erased, a clean slate.

"Looking good for someone, Ells?" Erika teases, winking. "Of course," Remy smiles, "Jake didn't ask her to the seventh grade finals assignment yet, right?"

Next Friday, our finals assignment for this year was a ball, combining CoveOps and culture class. Apparently, going "with someone" was an option. Was I nervous? yes. Was I absolutely terrified? Of course. But I shoved all of those thoughts away as I linked arms with my sisters as we pretended to be cinderella for one night.

* * *

><p>"Ellie!" Liz came along, her red lipstick slightly smudged, in a cute way, as she barreled toward me quite ungracefully. "I'm so glad you came!" she said, hugging me suddenly. I raised my eyebrow as I smelled it on her.<p>

"Are you drinking?" I ask, half curious and half wondering if I should be worried.

"Mhm," she giggled, her arm swinging around my shoulders. "Do you want some, too, Ellie?"

Before I could say anything, Macey playfully slapped Liz's arm, and smiled apologetically at me. "God, Liz, don't go offering alcohol to minors."

Liz blinked innocently at me. "What?" she asked.

Macey rolled her eyes. "Nothing, I just said that there's some really good lobster over there."

They wandered over to the food table as the rest of my roommates came up behind me.

"Liz drunk?" Erika asked, grinning.

I smiled back. "A rare and most glorifying experience."

"Ellie!"

I turned around, seeing Preston coming up behind me, along with some very favorite boys of ours. They were all dressed nicely in suits (with Tyler squirming uncomfortably in his). Jake was wearing a classic black suit with a white shirt that was slightly unbuttoned at the top, while Tyler was in a cute and somewhat hilarious bowtie, a sports jacket hanging on his arm. Aiden, on the other hand, was the only one besides Preston in a black tie. But his tie, unlike Preston's, was skinny and rather hipster (Erika would approve wholeheartedly with his fashion choices).

"Oh, hey, Preston," I smile, waving at him. Preston, for some reason kept secret to us, was supposed to stay at Gallagher until graduation. What happens after, I'm not sure.

As we chat, I see out of the corner of my eye Erika and Tyler, surprising enough, talking together without trading any punches of the sort. Of course, Erika wouldn't do anything to ruin her beautiful dress.

"So, like, Hart, you up for some dancing?" Tyler asked, grinning.

Erika widened her eyes. "What?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm inviting you to the dance, Hart."

"And when you invite a girl to the dance, Tyler, you use their first name. Duh."

Huffing, he dramatically announced, "The most beautiful, talented, annoying, fun, Erika Hart, will you graciously go with me to the finals ball next Friday?" It echoed out in the room, everyone turning with Macey snorting in laughing.

Erika blushed, slapping him on the head. "You idiot," she hissed.

Tyler grinned. "I'm taking that as a yes, Hart," he said, reverting back to last name.

As they wandered off, Jake stepped closer to me as he nudged me with his elbow. With this sudden and instantaneous contact between us, I felt a spark sizzle its way up my arm. It suddenly set off a firework of butterflies in my stomach as I nervously curved my lips at him.

"So, hey, Ellie," he grinned, brushing his fingers through his hair (which, believe it or not, was unbelievably sexy for a cute teenage boy). "How do you like the graduation party?"

I concentrated on keeping my feelings from exploding. "Oh, you know, drunk sisters and flirting everywhere, just the usual." As I said that, I realized my words and blushed deeply, feelings my cheeks warm.

Jake smirked at me, his eyebrows raised, as he affirmed this with a nod of his head. "Do you wanna go outside for a bit, by the way? It's a bit stuffy in here, don't you think?"

I followed him outside, feeling a bit numb. Ever since we came back from Blackthorne and Cammie coming back, through these past couple of months, I've been slowly growing more and more, well, nervous when I was with him.

The first few times, I'd go along avoiding him to avoid that fluttery, flying and falling through the sky feeling I felt every time he'd smile at me. That feeling grew stronger, as Erika and Cam (and Remy, eventually) got suspicious.

"What is up with you," Erika demanded, starting after me when I'd gotten a sudden interest in the display of Gillian's sword (which was luckily, the opposite direction of Jake).

"Hm? Oh, you know, there's a lot to learn fro-"

She cut me off with a, "Don't you lie to me, Eleanor Sutton."

Cam too, was looking at me with a Cam version of an intense, get ready to spit out the truth look she got when she was serious.

"Not here," I mumbled, leading us to someplace quieter and more secret.

After snuggling into a safe and warm nook we found for some nice afternoons, I, as Cam puts it, spat out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

"I don't know why, but everytime I see Jake, I get so nervous. Like, this feeling in my stomach," I gestured around my stomach to illustrate, "just gets intense and huge and I just have to get away or it doesn't stop."

They both stared at me as I said this, with Cam a pitying look in her eyes.

"What?" I asked, confused and somewhat annoyed. They weren't the ones who had this fluttery feeling, were they?

Erika sighed. "You're growing up," she said, patting me on my head. I tried not to point out the insignificant logic in that statement. "After so many months, finally! I'm glad all this sexual tension is gone."

I raised my eyebrow. "What?"

She waved her hand, standing up. "Never mind. Anyways, I have a little, erm, appointment in five minutes, so talk to you guys later!"

As she left, I still felt like, well, this feeling was unexplained and thus needed more observation.

"Cam, it's just, like, a thousand butterflies are waking up from hibernation and they all begin to fly back, you know? That whole wave of them waking up and flying off with renewed energy; the first tiny ripple of their wings." That still didn't feel like it had explained the entire thing, rather, it only scratched the surface of what I was thinking, but Cam still nodded.

Then, something happened, that was more extraordinary than thousands of invisible butterflies in my stomach.

"It's like a thunder of dragons, just tearing the sky apart with the slaps of their wings. At first, it's only one small slap of wings, but then, it gets bigger and bigger, like an epidemic. All those wings get infected with this crazy thing where they try to flap their wings as hard as they can, for as long and as loud as they can. It's like," she paused, and at this place, she tilted her head, thinking of a word, "It's like,"she repeated, "they're all trying to say something, to spread a secret message that only you'll understand and that you need to know. That even if they die trying, it's too important for you to miss."

There was a long silence before both of us said anything, Cam's words sinking in my mind as she just looked at me.

"Cam, I," I paused, trying to gather my thoughts together. There was a smile on her lips, as if she knew exactly the thoughts that were processing through my mind. The amazement at her speaking, the beautiful voice, rich and smooth, and at the simplest thought: that I understood, somehow, exactly what she'd just said and that I agreed with how perfectly she had explained that feeling I had that I could never explain, even with my vast vocabulary and my various foreign tongues.

I changed my mind on what to say, not trying to ask what she didn't want to speak about. There was always, always, another time and place for everything, in the end. And that topic was not for today. What was never spoken really never had a place in the first place.

"Thanks," I said instead, smiling. "I really needed that."

"You might want to avoid the library," Cam smiled back, changing the topic. "That's where Erika and Ty-, I mean, that's where her appointment is."

I raised my eyebrows. "And how do you know this?"

Cam just nodded, not answering, as she headed for the door. She stopped a foot before it, and turned back to me, one of the few times she'd ever voice my name. "Follow your heart, Ellie. You are you, nobody else', and I will never, ever, hate you for what you choose to do."

Her words at that time were something I would never forget for all my life.

We stood out on the balcony outside of the graduation party, the slight breeze carrying my hair for a bit. Jake stood a bit behind me, to the right, as I leaned on the railing, trying to keep myself calm.

"So, Tyler finally asked Erika, right?" I teased, keeping my voice light. "It was about time."

Jake laughed, winking at me (which didn't help my beating heart, for god's sake, Jake, do you want me to get a heart attack?) and said slyly, "I bet Aiden's not far behind."

I had a sudden rush of the thought of Cam's face, as she talked, er, communicated, with Aiden, and I grimly smiled. Cam cared about him, sure, but not romantically. And I doubt Aiden is unable to see that.

"Right." I say, my hand hanging at my side, feeling somewhat useless without a thing to do. I clenched my dress with my right hand once, before letting go and fisting my hand instead.

Jake took a step towards me, his shoe tapping on the floor.

"Ellie," he whispered, his hand hesitantly reaching for mine. I shivered as I felt the ghost of his fingers gently wrap themselves around my thin wrist, like a tie of string between us that'll never break or stray off for all eternity. I felt a spark run up my arm, like I always did when he was near, but this time, it was stronger and much, much more warmer.

I didn't let go, as his fingers loosened up my fist into an open hand and found their molding into the crooks of my hand, fitting perfectly like it was meant to be.

The warmness that I felt increased, like a growing forest fire, raging through me as I breathed in, once, before slowly resting my head on his shoulder, burying my head into his neck.

He nestled closer to me, as his grip around my hand tightened. "Ellie," he repeated, softly, smiling at me as I raised my head, meeting his eyes.

"Yeah?" I whispered back, so soft that only the two of us could hear the syllable, as the music around us wrapped and cocooned us from the other noises of the party that seemed like it was in a different world, with the two of us watching from the outside glass walls, blurry and translucent.

"I love you."

All this time, the invisible dragons, or butterflies, or whatever they were, never disappeared. They intensified with the warmth I felt, beating their wings even more furiously. Cam's message bounced in my mind, as I remembered and understood exactly what they were trying to say to me.

"I love you, too, Jake."

* * *

><p>Did I panic while Erika did my makeup for half an hour? nope. Did I freak out when I was forced into a dress that was <em>sparkly?<em> Nope. Did I freak out when Evangeline Rivers ran into our room to ask for shoe tape? Nope. (What is that, anyway?) When did I start freaking out, you may ask? Right at the flipping grand staircase.

I clutched Jake's arm a little too tightly as the nerves hit me. Jake, instantly alarmed, asked what was wrong. "You okay, Ellie?"

"Oh my god. This is all so ridiculous, Jake." I started one of my panic rants, "Finger sandwiches, really? _Finger sandwiches._ Did you know this is worth most of our grade? What if we fail? What if we have to repeat-"

"Easy, Ellie." He said gently, guiding me down the staircase. "We survived kidnapping and torture. I'm pretty flipping sure we can survive a test."

He might as well as slapped me in the face. _Okay, Ellie, you can do this._

Mr. Moscowitz gives me my manila folder filled with my cover with a flourish. As of now, I am Stephanie Jones, sister of Emma Jones (Remy), a constant gossip and loudmouth. And, no, Jake wasn't assigned my boyfriend or anything, but guess who was- Tyler. And he seemed equally as disgusted.

I leave Jake and weave my way through the very confused crowd of people to find Remy. And Tyler. Sigh. I link arms with Remy as I start to chatter the night away.

* * *

><p>"And did you hear?" I gasp, "She's in the hospital now because of it. But you didn't hear that from me."<p>

Oh yes, us Gallagher girls can be very actress-y when we want to be. I'm talking oscar-worthy acting here. Okay, maybe not, but still.

Remy, who's supposed to hang onto my every word plays her part perfectly. Her slanted eyes widen and narrow at the right moments and she knows exactly what to say.

"Raymond, sweetie," I call to Tyler, trying to keep the disgust from my voice, "Can you get Emma and me some drinks?"

There was no PDA from Tyler and me, none at all. Don't get me wrong- Tyler is funny and all, but he's nothing more than a brother to me. And I'm sure he thinks the same, the way I catch him looking wistfully at Erika the entire night. _But maybe he's not Jake, _a voice in my head whispers before I can shake it away.

He nods automatically, and spins on his heel toward the drinks table, where Erika was currently positioned. _He'll thank me later, _I smile to myself.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see Jake.

He smiles charmingly at Emma/ Remy, "Miss Jones, do you mind if I steal Stephanie for a bit?"

Remy grins back at Jake and me, perhaps too widely. "No, I don't mind at all."

"So, princess," He spins me on the dance floor far from the ears of the teachers, "enjoying the dance?"

"Dance?" I laugh, "This is still a test, Jake."

He shrugs, guiding me to the music. Where did Blackthorne boys learn to dance like this?

"Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it," he says, staring right into my eyes.

"I'll keep that in mind." I smile back.

* * *

><p>Late after the ball is over and we're trudging through the corridors in one mass of bodies, I feel someone catch my arm and hold me behind. It's Jake.<p>

"Hey, meet me upstairs, okay?" I call to Erika and Cam and Remy who are too tired to tease me about it.

"Hey, what's up?" I try to keep my voice light and even, and try to control the mysterious shaking that appeared.

"Ellie, you know you you're, like, one of my best friends right?" He looks nervous, which makes me nervous. It's an entire circle of nerves. He runs a hand messily through his already messy dark hair.

"Um, no, but I do now. What does it matter?" I proceed cautiously. I don't dare hope what I think he's saying out loud.

"Listen, Ellie." He squeezes his eyes shut, "About that. Um, I have to leave tomorrow."

I feel my eyes widen dramatically. Not exactly the _"Oh, Ellie, be my girlfriend!"_ I was thinking of. Maybe the night has made me delusional.

Jake, catching his mistake, amends quickly, "Oh, no! Not for the circle or anything. I told you I was over with that. I meant all of us Blackthorne guys. Our exchange is over, Ells." He clears his throat uncomfortably. "I was hoping to get a goodbye before tomorrow morning. We're, um, leaving at ten."

I was speechless.

"Say something, princess," Jake teases, but there's a crease of worry between his eyes.

I wish I could tell you that there was an amazing goodbye scene between us, complete with soulful violin music or something, but that isn't true. Being the stubborn Ellie I was, I just refused to... think. So many complex emotions swirling inside of my head, and I did the simplest thing I could do- I ran. Yep, I bolted. Like a freaking gazelle.

"I'm sorry," I muttered as I raced to my dorm. I looked back once and regretted it. Jake looked crestfallen. I was scared. Scared that Jake looked that way, and scared that I had that power over him.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Remy asks when I come into our room, catching sight of the few tears that slipped past my lids.

"Oh, my god. What did he say? Jake Adams is officially dead!" Erika declares. Cam grabs my hand a drags me down to my bed where I collapse slightly.

"Its not Jake- I mean, kind of. Did you know they're leaving tomorrow?" Catching sight of their faces, I knew they knew. My voice rises in frustration. "How does everyone know but me?" I swipe angrily at the stinging tears.

Cam makes a humming sound of sympathy.

"Jake didn't want anyone to tell you yet. He wanted to tell you himself." Erika leans over and hugs my shoulders.

"Life just isn't fair, is it?" Remy says.

* * *

><p>I lie in my bed as long as I can in the morning, not even sleeping. It was like my heart had been broken, but not really. And it felt like Jake was leaving for good, but he might come back. Maybe. Yeah, it's complicated.<p>

Erika and Cam try to wake me up before heading down to breakfast with no success. "It's okay guys," I sigh, "I'll just waste my whole life in this bed. Screw the future."

Out of stuffed-animal ammunition, they leave with a promise to bring back food. Okay, maybe I was a tad bit dramatic.

Surprisingly, Remy stays behind for a while. She sits at the edge of my bed, but doesn't say anything.

"Ellie?" she asks.

"Yeah?"

"What are you afraid of?"

The questions throws me for a second.

"I don't know," I whisper, "that I'll never see him again, I guess. I hate goodbyes. It feels like everything is changing too quickly, with Liz graduating and all."

She closes her dark eyes for a long second, thinking deeply.

"At least you can say goodbye, Ellie, at least you can."

I feel a horrible guilt creeping up, and I know exactly what she's thinking about- her family.

"Remy, I didn't mean to- I'm sorry. Really."

"It's okay, Ellie." she manages a wobbly smile. "You better hurry up or you'll miss them. They're leaving now."

Leaping out of bed with new urgency, I pull on whatever I grab first in place on my pajamas. Unfortunately, it was a cringe-worthy ensemble, even for me.

I'm sure I tripped at least three times and almost knocked over a vase while running to the main driveway. I guess all the other girls said their goodbyes at the ball or graduation, because I didn't see a single other Gallagher girl, which made it way more awkward.

"Jake!" I yell, catching sight of him, predictably next to Tyler and Aiden. "Can I talk to you?" He lifts an eyebrow, but nods, leading farther away from the rowdy Blackthorne boys waiting for their van.

He looks at me delicately, definitely nursing a wounded ego. "Ellie? You look..."

Drunk? Crazy? Stupid?

"Like heck, yeah, I know." I try for a smile. "Listen, Jake. I'm sorry about last night. I kind of... freaked out. I just hate goodbyes."

He cocks an eyebrow. "So I've noticed." He turns around and starts walking away. "So if that's all..." he calls from behind his shoulder. I knew he wants to hurt me the way I hurt him.

I stare open- mouthed. There's no way I'm leaving it with this. "Jake!" I cry.

He turns around with a crooked too-handsome-for-his-own-good smile. "Kidding, Lily."

"Lily?" I repeat. It's the first time he's used my codename. He just shrugs. "Figured I'd try it. I like it better than Gallagher girl or princess."

I laugh, not knowing what else to do. So here I was, prepared to make this huge, tearful, Titanic-worthy goodbye scene, but all that spilled out of my mouth was air. I panick, seeing the van drive closer.

"Listen, Ellie." Jake saves me, "Is that all you're worried about? I'll see you again, I promise. This isn't just some crazy summer fling or some shift." He grins.

He goes on to continue, "And I don't care if you go by Ellie or Gallagher girl or princess, or if you're here or halfway across the world. I'll find you, I promise."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart." He grins.

I feel an unwelcome smile tug at my lips.

"Bye, Princess," Jake whispers, and I see his hazel eyes get closer. He kisses me swiftly on the cheek.

I smile, and he smiles back. We both know there's nothing we really need to say.

And I can't say there was much more after that. He hops into the van with a small wave and a smile, and I can't help but feel one on my lips too. I turn without another glance and walk back to my room where I know my other sisters are waiting for me. I won't try to chase him or follow him; I'll just let fate handle this one. And the rest, _shh, _is all the confessions of a teenage spy!


End file.
